I recently received the letter below objecting to my my use of the term oocyte-assisted reprogramming. I first heard the term myself when interviewing Shoukhrat Mitalipov about cloning monkey embryos. It seemed like a nice way to distinguish between two known ways of reprogramming a nucleus: putting it in an egg versus introducing pluripotency genes. However, oocyte-assisted reprogramming has also been used to refer to a method also known as altered nuclear transfer, which involved putting a nucleus into an egg such that no viable embryo results. I hope that it was clear from my article that Mitalipov et al did, in fact, clone monkey embryos by tranferring nuclei into enucleated oocytes. I did not mean to imply that Mitalipov was using altered-nuclear transfer.
To whom it may concern:
In a commentary entitled “Monkey embryonic stem cells cloned” (Nat.Rep. Stem Cells https://www.nature.com/stemcells/2007/0711/071121/full/stemcells.2007.119.html#top),
Ms. Monya Baker uses the term “oocyte assisted reprogramming” (or OAR) as a synonym for “therapeutic cloning”.
The phrase “OAR” was introduced into the scientific literature as a consequence of a 2005 Westchester Institute Scholars Forum focused on the proposal by Dr. William Hurlbut to generate pluripotent stem cells using a process known as Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT). In this Forum, a modification of ANT was proposed that incorporated “oocyte assisted reprogramming” (i.e. ANT–OAR). Cf. Arkes H, et al. “Production of pluripotent stem cells by oocyte-assisted reprogramming: joint statement with signatories.” Natl Cathol Bioeth Q. 2005 Autumn;5(3):579-83.
To our knowledge, OAR has never been equated with so-called ‘therapeutic cloning’ or used synonymously with somatic cell nuclear transfer. Indeed, the expressed purpose of the ANT proposal is to generate pluripotent stem cells without cloning of an embryo (therapeutic or otherwise).
Since the appearance of the term in 2005, no one has (to my knowledge, based on the PubMed database) used “oocyte assisted reprogramming” as synonymous with SCNT, except for Ms. Baker. Inaccurate identification of cloning with “oocyte assisted reprogramming” only serves to confuse your readers and the scientific literature.
Sincerely,
Fr. Thomas Berg, L.C., Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person
Fr. Thomas Berg, L.C., Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Westchester Institute for Ethics
& the Human Person
P.O. Box 78
582 Columbus Ave.
Thornwood, NY 10594
tberg at westchesterinstitute.net
www.westchesterinstitute.net