Using stem cells for any other purpose is not allowed. Human cloning is against the law for whatever purpose. A government-appointed panel recommended that scientists should be permitted to create cloned embryos to study the creation of cells and tissues for transplant, but the House of Lords is threatening to reject the legislation. Peers accuse the government of attempting to railroad the plans through parliament and are demanding further research. In the same way that Dolly the sheep was created.
Scientists take genetic material from a cell in an adult's body and fuse it with an empty egg cell.
They trigger this to grow into an embryo. Inside the embryo are master cells with the potential to develop into any of the 216 cell types that make up the body, including nerve tissue, blood, heart muscle and brain cells. Since 1998, scientists have been able to isolate and culture these cells. Individual cells could be removed and implanted into our bodies to repair the damage caused by degenerative illnesses like heart disease. The new tissue could be used to treat disease.