Scientists hopeful of finding moral way to use embryonic stem cells

Published: 2004-12-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Speakers presented the President's Council on Bioethics Dec. 3 with two experimental lab techniques for obtaining human embryonic stem cells that seek to overcome moral objections about destroying embryos in the process. Sharply divided U.S. opinion on the use of human embryonic stem cells is prompting scientists to look for ways of getting such cells that are morally acceptable to a broader spectrum of people, the speakers said. One technique would be similar to cloning an embryo, except that the nucleus from the donor cell with its chromosomal DNA would be genetically altered prior to being placed in a recipient egg, which has had its nucleus removed. The alteration would be such that the resulting egg with the new nuclear material would be incapable of developing into an embryo. But the entity would live long enough to create harvestable stem cells. This technique is called "altered nuclear transfer," or ANT for short. The other technique would harvest still living stem cells from embryos that are declared dead according to a clinical definition, much in the same way living organs are taken from fully developed humans judged to be "brain dead." This technique would use frozen embryos produced by in vitro fertilization. The scientists who presented the ideas said that both are theoretically possible but still in the experimental stage.

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