Human Cloning at Harvard
They're looking into it:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard University scientists have asked the university's ethical review board for permission to produce cloned human embryos for disease research, potentially becoming the first researchers in the nation to wade into a divisive area of study that has become a presidential campaign issue.
"We want to find new ways to study and hopefully cure diseases," said Harvard biologist Douglas Melton, a senior researcher who, along with a colleague, has applied for permission to do the work.
Prepare for the inevitable hype and hysteria. There are serious ethical issues that need to be worked out in order to create a workable framework to allow for therapeutic cloning. Unfortunately, those issues are consistently missed in favor of Hollywood imagery.
We need regulations that prevent reproductive cloning — that is the development of a viable living cloned person. Reproductive cloning is a different fight for a different day. (Or century.) There should be strict guidelines as to how far in its development cycle an embryo should be allowed to progress before cells are harvested from it. And there should be guidelines as to who can access the stem cell lines once created and why. Stephen shared some serious thoughts on these issues a while back.
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that we'll get much discussion on these issues in the mainstream media. Vivid imagery of body-part banks and invading clone hordes make much better newspaper copy.
