Human Cloning Isn’t Monkey Business
By Osagie K. Obasogie,
Genetic Crossroads
| 11. 29. 2007
Rarely have science, politics, and international diplomacy converged as intensely as they have over the past few days.
Researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center have accomplished what some scientists equate with breaking the sound barrier: creating cloned embryos from an adult monkey and isolating its stem cells. Since monkeys are humans' closest relatives and embryonic stem cells might treat devastating injuries and diseases, this research has invigorated prospects for developing patient-specific embryonic stem cells for humans by copying the Oregon researchers' new approach. After all, monkey see, monkey do.
Yet another level of intrigue comes from the fact that cloning an embryo to obtain stem cells involves the same underlying process as cloning an embryo to create a living, breathing clone: taking the nucleus from a body cell, sticking it into an egg, and triggering its early development. Research cloning involves stopping this development after a few days to cull the early embryos' stem cells; reproductive cloning entails placing the developing embryo into a surrogate until the clone is born.
Scientists have not yet created a living cloned...
Related Articles
GeneWatch UK has prepared a briefing on the genetic modification of nature for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in October 2025
The upcoming Congress claims to be “where the world comes together to set priorities and drive conservation and sustainable development action.” A major concern for those on the outside is that the Congress may advance plans to develop and encourage the use of synthetic biology in nature conservation. This could at first glance sound like...
By Peter de Kruijff, ABC News | 09.16.2025
Do you wonder where your meat comes from? Maybe it is organic, wild harvested, or farmed.
Or perhaps it was designed in a lab.
Faster-growing fish, heat-tolerant cows and disease-resistant pigs are among a new class of animals that are...
By Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times | 08.25.2025
Scientists have dreamed for centuries about using animal organs to treat ailing humans. In recent years, those efforts have begun to bear fruit: Researchers have begun transplanting the hearts and kidneys of genetically modified pigs into patients, with varying degrees...
By Staff, GMWatch | 08.10.2025
Protesting Against Monsanto and GMOs
by William Murphy, CC2.0
GMWatch has published a series of interviews with the late scientist Dr Arpad Pusztai, conducted in March 2002 by the journalist Andy Rowell, as part of his research for his book, Don't...
