Australia issues cloning license

Australia has issued its first license for making stem cells from cloned human embryos, according to news reports. The recipient is a fertility company called Sydney IVF, which says it has access to 7,200 human eggs. The project will use only eggs obtained with appropriate informed consent and that could not be used for in vitro fertilization.

Several research groups have already reported cloning human embryos. However, despite multiple continuing attempts, no one has reported a successful dderivation of human embryonic stem cells through this method.

The advantage of cloned hES cells would be that they would be genetically matched to an existing individual. The cloning process could also help answer questions about `reprogramming’, or how cells shift genetic expression to become one or another type of cell. Recently, push to clone hES cells has diminished with the invention of a reprogramming technique that genetically engineers adult skin cells, but scientists are still eager to compare both techniques.

See a blog entry describing previous attempts, plus links to other groups attempting this work in Europe.