THE UK has granted its first licence allowing scientists to try to clone human cells for research. The decision last week was broadly welcomed, but a few vocal critics denounced the plans as both unethical and unnecessary. So just why is such research needed?
In 2001 the UK decided to allow therapeutic cloning – producing embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos – but each research proposal must be individually approved. Now Miodrag Stojkovic of the University of Newcastle and Alison Murdoch at the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life have been granted an initial one-year licence.
The team plans to use spare…
