Latest Somatic cell nuclear transfer Stories

By Edward Davies and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea launched on Wednesday a an ambitious project to make the country a global hub for stem-cell storage and research, hoping to further cement its status at the forefront of cloning research. Helped by generous government support and an absence of some of the red-tape and ethical debate that has hampered research in countries such as the United States, South Korea is fast becoming a key center for stem-cell research. Stem cells...

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have created a human embryonic stem cell from ordinary skin cells and say it is a step closer to tailored medical treatments without the technical difficulties or the controversy of using human embryos. The scientists said on Monday their technique, in which they fused embryonic stem cells to skin and bone cells, could one day provide the scientific and medical benefits of so-called therapeutic cloning....

Researchers have developed a new technique for creating human embryonic stem cells by fusing adult somatic cells with embryonic stem cells. The fusion causes the adult cells to undergo genetic reprogramming, which results in cells that have the developmental characteristics of human embryonic stem cells. This approach could become an alternative to somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a method that is currently used to produce human stem cells. SCNT involves transferring the nuclei of adult...

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science CorrespondentWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have created a new human embryonic stem cell from an ordinary skin cell, U.S. researchers said on Monday.They hope their method, which fuses an embryonic stem cell to an ordinary skin cell and bone cells, could someday provide tailor-made medical treatments without having to start from scratch using cloning technology.That would also mean generating the valuable cells without using a human egg, and without...

By Jon Herskovitz SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Woo-Suk Hwang has reached the highest peaks of cloning and stem cell research, but critics say he has taken science onto a steep and slippery slope and raised alarming questions about interfering with life. On Wednesday, Hwang was all smiles as he put on a lab coat and frolicked with an Afghan hound puppy named Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog, which he helped create. The dog was named after Seoul National University, where Hwang's lab...

by Jon Herskovitz SEOUL (Reuters) - Man can now reproduce his best friend -- South Korean scientists announced on Wednesday they had created the world's first cloned dog. Woo-Suk Hwang and his team of researchers at Seoul National University made world headlines earlier this year when they created stem cells with a patient's specific genetic material, derived through cloned embryos. Now they have cemented their place as leaders in the field by creating Snuppy, the first dog cloned from adult...

South Korea's pioneering stem cell scientist has cloned a dog, smashing another biological barrier and reigniting a fierce ethical debate - while producing a perky, lovable puppy. The researchers, led by Hwang Woo-suk, insist they cloned an Afghan hound, a resplendent supermodel in a world of mutts, only to help investigate human disease, including the possibility of cloning stem cells for treatment purposes. But others immediately renewed calls for a global ban on human reproductive cloning...

SEOUL -- Man can now reproduce his best friend -- South Korean scientists announced on Wednesday they had created the world's first cloned dog.Woo-Suk Hwang and his team of researchers at Seoul National University made world headlines earlier this year when they created stem cells with a patient's specific genetic material, derived through cloned embryos.Now they have cemented their place as leaders in the field by creating Snuppy, the first dog cloned from adult cells by somatic nuclear cell...

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain plans to introduce legislation allowing therapeutic cloning, its Health Minister said on Monday, a decision likely to bring a new clash between the governing Socialists and the Roman Catholic church. In an interview in newspaper El Mundo, Elena Salgado said the legislation could be effective by next year. "The Church has always been opposed to the advances of science, but fortunately science has continued progressing. And thanks to that we live in better conditions,"...

MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Assembly approved one of the nation's toughest bans on human cloning Thursday despite concerns the bill would cripple embryonic stem cell research in the state where it was discovered. The bill not only bans cloning to create a baby but also outlaws so-called therapeutic cloning that researchers say could advance the understanding of genetic diseases. It also would prohibit Wisconsin scientists from using embryos cloned in research labs in other states. The...