UK set to ban human cloning

LONDON, England -- Emergency legislation banning human cloning in Britain is being introduced the day after American scientists announced a breakthrough in creating human embryos.

The new laws, drawn up to close a legal loophole in Britain after the High Court ruled that cloning humans was not illegal, would not have outlawed the American research.

The private U.S. research company -- Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), based in Worcester, Massachusetts -- behind Sunday's breakthrough said its scientists had produced "preimplantation embryos" but were aiming to use them for research to treat disease, not to create a cloned human being.

VIDEO President George W. Bush speaks out against cloning of human beings. CNN's Kelly Wallace reports (November 26) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviews Dr Michael West. (November 25) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES The company behind the clones: Advanced Cell Technology  CNN Access: "I'm just trying to help people who are sick"  An interview with Michael West, ACT's president   RESOURCES • In-Depth: The stem cell debate  • Message board: Human embryo use    How it was done The technique used by Advanced Cell Technology scientists is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, also referred to as human therapeutic cloning. A cell from a patient's body is combined with an egg cell that has had its DNA removed. This reprograms the body cell's DNA back to an embryonic state, and stem cells identical to the patient's are produced. Stem cells can form any cell or tissue in the human body. Of eight eggs, two divided to form early embryos composed of four cells. One progressed to a six-cell stage before it stopped dividing. This breakthrough occurred October 13, 2001. Source: Advanced Cell Technology Inc.  QUICKVOTE Will human cloning benefit mankind? Yes No View Results

The new legislation on embryo research nears the end of its legislative journey through the British Parliament this week.

On Monday it is due to be considered by the House of Lords while it will go before the House of Commons on Thursday.

It allows for a ban on cloned embryos being implanted into wombs but does not ban therapeutic cloning using cell nuclear replacement for research -- the technique used by the American firm and to produce Dolly the sheep.

Maverick scientists including Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori have said the High Court's ruling means they could create cloned embryos in Britain and implant them before the emergency legislation could be brought in.

John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, told the Press Association: "This underlines the need for the Government's Bill to be fundamentally changed so that all forms of human cloning, both experimental cloning and cloning for child birth, are completely banned."

Human embryo clones have become a "holy grail" in the scientific community because the embryos contain stem cells, which can be used to create virtually any human tissue.

They are potentially vital for transplant operations and for therapies for conditions including strokes, cancer, Aids, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Advanced Cell Technology announced its breakthrough in an online journal, e-biomed, which said it was "the first proof that reprogrammed human cells can supply tissue for transplantation."

The firm said it had cloned embryos by removing the DNA from human egg cells.

The DNA from an adult human body cell was then implanted into the egg cell, which was then stimulated to grow into a six-cell embryo.

One of the ACT team, Dr Michael West, said the firm had no plans to clone a human being.

"We could implant these cells into a woman's uterus and make a cloned human being, but that's not what we are doing. We are doing it to help cure diseases," he told CNN.

"We are making cellular life, not a human life. A human life begins upwards of two weeks into development. We have this little bundle of cells."

He admitted other scientists might be able to use his team's technology to clone a human being, but said the risks of that for the pregnant woman or the clone were not yet known.

Dr West said it would be a few years until his technology could be applied to curing diseases, adding: "These are the first faltering steps towards this new area of medicine."

Earlier this year, Antinori and U.S. researcher Panos Zavos announced plans to clone humans.

The announcement was criticised by officials in several countries, and Italian authorities threatened to ban Antinori from practising medicine if he goes ahead with the experiment.

Another organisation, Clonaid, moved its research into human cloning outside of the U.St. after being investigated by the federal government.

Clonaid was founded by members of a religion called the Raelian movement, which believes extraterrestrial scientists created life on Earth and that cloning is a way of achieving eternal life.