Scottish researchers apply for licence for human cloning
http://www.100md.com
《英国医生杂志》
Researchers from Edinburgh抯 Roslin Institute have applied for a licence to clone human embryos for the purpose of research into motor neurone disease. The team behind the application is the same group—led by Professor Ian Wilmut—that in 1996 cloned Dolly the sheep, the first successful cloning of a mammal.
The licence, if granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, will be Britain抯 second and the first to permit deliberate cloning of embryos with a disease.
In August the authority granted Britain抯 first cloning licence to the Newcastle Centre for Life (BMJ 2004;329:417, 21 August) for the purpose of harvesting insulin producing cells for transplantation in diabetic patients. The Roslin Institute also plans to produce stem cells, but these will be cells genetically predisposed to develop motor neurone disease as they grow into neurones.
The causes of motor neurone disease are poorly understood. Only about 2% of cases are attributable to defects in a known gene, called SOD1, and a further 8% of cases are clearly inherited.
Like the Newcastle group the Roslin Institute researchers will use eggs rejected by fertility treatment clinics, removing their DNA and inserting new genes. They plan to insert DNA with defective SOD1 as well as DNA from people likely, on the basis of family history, to inherit motor neurone disease.
The eggs will be chemically stimulated to begin cell division, and researchers will study the early stages of motor neurone disease in cells taken from the resulting embryos. The embryos themselves will be destroyed at the blastocyst stage, about six days into their development.
"It could be an extremely powerful tool for studying disease," said Professor Wilmut. "I would emphasise that, at this time, our objective is to understand the disease. We hope one day it will lead to treatment, but we抮e not suggesting that at the present time."
Defending therapeutic cloning, Professor Wilmut added: "Knowledge often does have two edges to it. We owe it to the people who suffer from it and are going to suffer from it in the future to try and develop treatments for them."
Human cloning, even for therapeutic purposes, is banned elsewhere in Europe and in North America, although it is permitted in China, Singapore, and South Korea. In Britain only reproductive cloning is banned, but all research involving embryos requires a licence from the fertilisation and embryology authority.
The authority expects to give an answer by January, and if the licence is granted the researchers will probably begin work next spring.
Dr Brian Dickie, director of research at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, said: "This is a new and exciting avenue of medical research that may revolutionise the future treatment of MND as well as a great number of other degenerative conditions. We are happy to back this research project, as long as we are satisfied that it is legal, has a sound scientific rationale, and has the potential to bring us closer to an effective treatment for MND."(London Owen Dyer)
The licence, if granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, will be Britain抯 second and the first to permit deliberate cloning of embryos with a disease.
In August the authority granted Britain抯 first cloning licence to the Newcastle Centre for Life (BMJ 2004;329:417, 21 August) for the purpose of harvesting insulin producing cells for transplantation in diabetic patients. The Roslin Institute also plans to produce stem cells, but these will be cells genetically predisposed to develop motor neurone disease as they grow into neurones.
The causes of motor neurone disease are poorly understood. Only about 2% of cases are attributable to defects in a known gene, called SOD1, and a further 8% of cases are clearly inherited.
Like the Newcastle group the Roslin Institute researchers will use eggs rejected by fertility treatment clinics, removing their DNA and inserting new genes. They plan to insert DNA with defective SOD1 as well as DNA from people likely, on the basis of family history, to inherit motor neurone disease.
The eggs will be chemically stimulated to begin cell division, and researchers will study the early stages of motor neurone disease in cells taken from the resulting embryos. The embryos themselves will be destroyed at the blastocyst stage, about six days into their development.
"It could be an extremely powerful tool for studying disease," said Professor Wilmut. "I would emphasise that, at this time, our objective is to understand the disease. We hope one day it will lead to treatment, but we抮e not suggesting that at the present time."
Defending therapeutic cloning, Professor Wilmut added: "Knowledge often does have two edges to it. We owe it to the people who suffer from it and are going to suffer from it in the future to try and develop treatments for them."
Human cloning, even for therapeutic purposes, is banned elsewhere in Europe and in North America, although it is permitted in China, Singapore, and South Korea. In Britain only reproductive cloning is banned, but all research involving embryos requires a licence from the fertilisation and embryology authority.
The authority expects to give an answer by January, and if the licence is granted the researchers will probably begin work next spring.
Dr Brian Dickie, director of research at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, said: "This is a new and exciting avenue of medical research that may revolutionise the future treatment of MND as well as a great number of other degenerative conditions. We are happy to back this research project, as long as we are satisfied that it is legal, has a sound scientific rationale, and has the potential to bring us closer to an effective treatment for MND."(London Owen Dyer)