Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . It could be months before Britain's Parliament decides officially whether to relax its ban on cloning human embryos, but Wednesday's report that it may do so freshened global debate. And we have just started debate on it because it is 10 years old and much has happened since. It offers enormous potential for new treatment for chronic disease and injury and the relief of human suffering.
Stem cells are parent cells to all the human body s systems.
Scientists believe that if such cells are extracted before they begin to specialize, their growth can be directed in a lab. We should take our time' The issue provokes deep public concern, especially since the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1997. But the debate takes different paths in Europe and the United States. In the United States, debate centers on embryo research rather than on cloning, said ethicist Glenn McGee of the University of Pennsylvania. There is no reason to make a knee-jerk reaction now based on the British decision.