CGS-authored

SAN DIEGO, CA (KGO) -- Scientists in San Diego are celebrating what they claim is a breakthrough in stem cell research. They say they've produced embryos that are clones of two men using skin cells.

It's considered a useful step in stem cell research.

"For the first time they took cells from living human beings and managed to make five-day-old embryos that were genetically identical to those living human beings," says Prof. Hank Greely with Stanford Law School.

In other words, the clone's DNA matches the donor's. The stem cells will now be harvested from the embryo, with the goal of one day turning those cells into replacements for damaged tissues in humans.

"These cloning techniques have been promoted as ways to provide personal repair kits -- patient specific therapies -- and that's highly unlikely," says Marcy Darnovsky with the Center for Genetics and Society.

Those at the Center for Genetics and Society support stem cell research, but it's the promise behind it and the manner in which this type of testing is done, that they oppose. Most often, it...