CGS-authored

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Researchers have produced stem cell lines using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) from cells, making human reproductive cloning more technically feasible. Is this a good idea?

Not according to Marcy Darnovsky, PhD, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, a public interest organization based in Berkeley, California.

Talking to the Digital Journal, Darnovsky said: "No one wants to wake up to headlines that a rogue fertility doctor or scientist initiated a pregnancy with a cloned human embryo."

The Center for Genetics and Society (CGS) is a non-profit public affairs and policy advocacy organization working to encourage responsible uses and effective societal governance of human genetic and reproductive biotechnologies.

The basis of Darnovsky's concern relates to a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. In the journal, researchers report that they have produced stem cell lines using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) from cells taken from two adult men. The aim of this work is to produce patient-specific stem cells for medical treatments. But unlike induced pluripotent stem cells, which can also be patient-specific, SCNT...