A team at Newcastle University said Wednesday they had asked the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority for a license to create embryos from which stem cells would be harvested for medical research.

The researchers hope eventually to create insulin-producing cells that can be transplanted into diabetic patients.

[…]

If permission is granted, scientists may create cloned embryos only for purposes of extracting stem cells for medical research. The extraction, which is done when the embryo is a few days old, means the clones cannot develop into babies. The embryos are only allowed to be developed until they are 14 days old.

The Godsend Institute appears to be the first bona fide human reproductive cloning institute, according to its website.

The institute has no qualms about its true goal. Its scientists aren’t trying to cure the world’s ills; they want to “create life from life.” The center’s visionary and founder is Dr. Richard Wells, one of the top fertility experts in the world.

The website is seductively professional-looking. It features bird’s-eye photographs of a sprawling facility, state-of-the-art equipment and smiling families once touched by tragedy, now embracing their cloned-back-to-life children. It sounds too amazing to be true, and, of course, it is. Dr. Richard Wells also happens to be the name of the fertility doctor played by Robert De Niro in Lions Gate’s upcoming sci-fi film, Godsend.

The website bears no mention of the movie, but a WhoIs search shows that Lions Gate owns the domain name. Also, the fact that Jeremy Walker, the publicist who instigated the Blair Witch Project Web chatter, is doing Godsend’s publicity is a strong indication that the two are connected. Walker and representatives from Lions Gate did not return phone calls requesting clarification on who exactly developed the site and what they hoped to accomplish.

Clever bit of marketing. Nice to see the someone from Blair Witch can still do good stuff.

Grab a look at the trailer.

By Lisa M. Krieger
Mercury News
For the first time, scientists have cloned a human embryo and grown it to a stage where its stem cells could be harvested for transplants, an important medical advance that raises political and ethical questions.

The research, reported by South Korean scientists in today’s issue of the journal Science, could lead to cures for Parkinson’s disease and juvenile diabetes. But it also raises the specter of producing life only to destroy it for medical purposes — and brings science one step closer to creating a cloned baby.

“If it can be replicated elsewhere, it means that we’ve taken a big step toward creating cells that match the DNA of a person who needs cell therapy, avoiding rejection problems,” said law Professor Hank Greely of Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics.

“The other side,” added Greely, “is this: It might be possible to make a baby this way.”

If it concludes cloned food products are safe, the FDA then must decide if cloning is just another form of assisted reproduction on the farm — which it doesn’t regulate — or if each product will require specific approval before selling.

Although preliminary, the FDA’s findings are causing consternation for some consumer advocates.

The FDA hasn’t yet completed writing the 300-page scientific review on which the summary is based, even though the agency is asking its scientific advisers to critique the risk assessment next week. How, critics wonder, can anyone be confident of the FDA’s review of such an important matter on the basis of 11 pages of vague information?

In addition, the FDA hasn’t yet considered the societal reaction to using cloned animals for food, something the National Research Council specifically urged addressing, said Carol Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America…

…Consumer reaction could prove key to whether food producers want to invest in cloning technology or not. Foods that are genetically modified face trade barriers overseas despite FDA assurances that those now sold are safe. While cloning means a genetic copy, not genetic modification, public understanding of biotechnology is sketchy.

The foal, called Prometea, was born 10 weeks ago and appears to be perfectly healthy.

To create Prometea, scientists took a skin cell from an adult mare which was fused with an empty equine egg.

The mare then acted as a surrogate mother for Prometea – so giving birth to a carbon copy of herself.

The development is reported in the journal Nature. It means that scientists have now cloned sheep, mice, cattle, goats, rabbits, cats, pigs and mules. The mule, called Idaho Gem, was born earlier this year in the US.

MOSCOW, Idaho ? A University of Idaho-Utah State University research team is the first worldwide to clone a member of the horse family, a mule, according to an article to be published in the journal Science.

The research team includes Gordon Woods, UI professor of animal and veterinary science, Kenneth L. White, Utah State University professor of animal science, and Dirk Vanderwall, UI assistant professor of animal and veterinary science.

The baby mule, Idaho Gem, was born May 4. It is the first clone of a hybrid animal. A mule results from a cross between a female horse, a mare, and a male donkey, a jack. As hybrids, mules are sterile, except in extremely rare cases.

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