Therapeutic cloning on the skids

ACT’s plight appears to confirm that therapeutic cloning is on the skids.
Over the past eight years the US and countries around the world have been
embroiled in political and ethical battles about stem cell research. Legislative
successes were all sold to legislators and voters because miracle cures from
dread diseases were on the way. But now, with an alternative in sight, induced
pluripotent stem cells, scientists are being more candid.

James Thomson, of the University of Wisconsin, who first isolated human
embryonic stem cells, is dismissive. "It’s less about transplantation than about
understanding the human body," he told a public forum in Santa Barbara. And the
head of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Alan Trouson, was no
more optimistic. A mother of a child with Type 1 diabetes recalled being
promised that a cure was around the corner. What’s the new ETA, she asked?.
"It’s the classic question; ‘When [will] we cure the disease?’" said Trounson.
"It’s a hard one to answer. I don’t think it’s realistic to tell you it’s going
to happen soon." ~ Santa Barbara Independent, July 20

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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