To the Editor: The recent editorial by Penington and Mitchell1 unreservedly supports the Victorian Government’s legislation allowing “therapeutic cloning” by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) — generating an embryo by transferring an adult somatic cell nucleus (skin, muscle, etc) from an individual into a donated ovum from which the nucleus has been removed. State and federal support for therapeutic cloning has clearly been dependent upon belief in the therapeutic benefits to be obtained — a belief that the editorial does nothing to dispel.
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- Bone, Joint and Cancer Unit, St Vincent’s Institute, Melbourne, VIC.
- 1. Penington DG, Mitchell GF. Human embryonic stem cells leap the barrier [editorial]. Med J Aust 2007; 187: 139-140. <MJA full text>
- 2. Wu DC, Boyd AS, Wood KJ. Embryonic stem cell transplantation: potential applicability in cell replacement therapy and regenerative medicine. Front Biosci 2007; 12: 4525-4535.
- 3. Hentze H, Graichen R, Colman A. Cell therapy and the safety of embryonic stem cell-derived grafts. Trends Biotechnol 2007; 25: 24-32.