Schr”der Said Mulling Cloning Policy Switch [Germany]

Encouraged by recent cloning successes in South Korea, German Chancellor Gerhard Schr”der reportedly wants to ease restrictions on stem cell research in Germany.

Currently nine teams of scientists in Germany are working with imported embryonic stem cells, the only kind of cloning research currently allowed in the country. But the chancellor wants to expand this and make it easier for scientists to clone for therapeutic purposes, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported on Friday, citing government circles.



The report coincides with the news that a team of South Korean scientists has developed the first lines of patient-specific embryonic stem cells, designed to give a precise DNA match.



A major scientific advance?





The research marks major strides in work aimed at making it possible one day to transplant healthy cells into humans to replace cells ravaged by illnesses such as Parkinson's and diabetes, said the researchers, whose work was published in the May 20 issue of Science.



A co-author on the study, Dr. Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine called the development "a major advance in the...