2001 Researchers on Thursday released evidence suggesting that a patient's own embryonic clone could be used as a source of stem cells to treat that person for Parkinson's disease, diabetes and an array of other ailments. The emerging controversy puts a new spin on the debate over cloning because many scientists who oppose reproductive cloning of humans support research on therapeutic cloning. But the debate pits researchers against religious conservatives on some of the same issues that have stalled other work on stem cells taken from embryos.
Scientists prize such cells for their unique potential as replacement parts for diseased tissue.
Opponents of the research contend that creating or harvesting human embryos for stem cells is tantamount to murder. The Bush administration last week delayed the first meeting of a committee charged with reviewing applications for government funding of embryonic stem cell research. Although President Bush has said he is opposed to such work, other officials such as Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson have supported the research. Proponents of the approach say they have no intention of making full-grown human clones. Rather, scientists would take stem cells from cloned embryos in the first 14 days after they are created, before they can grow beyond 100 cells.