DESPITE the years of hype about cloning changing the face of medicine, no scientist in the West that we know of has yet grown a cloned human embryo to the stage where it could yield any potentially useful stem cells. Has an unknown fertility expert in China really cracked the problem (see The race for a cure)?
Until Lu Guangxiu’s research is published and scrutinised by other experts, it’s impossible to be certain. What’s clear is that in the West, especially the US, Lu’s claims make perfect ammunition for snipers on both sides of the moral divide over embryo research. Opponents of the research can now…
