Cloned embryos ‘not potential lives’

SCIENTISTS have demonstrated a technique they believe can sidestep ethical objections to therapeutic cloning.

They tampered with DNA to make the clone they created an “unviable” embryo which could never develop in the womb.

Embryos made this way could not be regarded as “potential” human lives, say the scientists. There should therefore be no objection to destroying them in order to obtain valuable stem cells for use in research.

But the move was condemned by pro-life groups as “simply unacceptable” and “ethically obtuse”.

Although the research was conducted on mice, scientists say it demonstrated a “proof of principle”.

In cloning, an egg has its genetic material replaced with that from a donor cell.

The egg is then stimulated to start dividing. The resultant embryo is a genetic match of the original donor. The new process, known as altered nuclear transfer (ANT), follows the same pattern but with a twist.

Before the DNA from the donor cell is placed in the egg, it is modified in such a way that the embryo cannot implant. Without implantation, an embryo can not develop during pregnancy.

Researchers focused on a gene which enables an embryo to grow a placenta.

To create an embryo that cannot implant in a womb, a gene in mouse cells was disabled using a technique called RNA interference.

David King, of the organisation Human Genetics Alert, said: “You are creating something that is genetically manipulated before you even start off. Something which is human should not be treated as merely a tool for research, a means to an end.”