Oregon Health & Science University wins breakthrough stem-cell patent; ethics of cloning debated

Oregon Health & Science University's patent on a procedure to clone stem cells caps off a decade of work for Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his research team at OHSU's primate center.

The 2007 discovery, ranked by TIME Magazine one of the top two research advances of the year, now can be commercialized. Over the long-term, observers say, it could lead to the genetic engineering of human beings. But OHSU's announcement yesterday focused on short-term health gains.

“We believe our procedure has several advantages over other methods in developing new treatments for diseases such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cardiac disease and spinal cord injuries,” said Mitalipov, an associate scientist in the Division of Reproductive Sciences. “For instance, because we transform a person’s own cells, there are no issues of rejection when the stem cells are transplanted back into a patient.”

What follows are links tracking the patent announcement, the earlier news and the resulting ethical debate over human cloning.

OHSU's Shoukhrat Mitalipov, Ph.D., discusses newly developed gene therapy method (OHSU via Youtube.com)

Scientists use monkey clones to extract stem cells (New York...