In a sidestep move that failed to leave the Pope floundering helplessly,
Aussie researchers have just announced a new advance in the casuistic war
over the sanctity of blastocyts and other small but perfectly formed
identical sacred lifeforms.
I'll be interviewed alongside Dr Trounson tonight on a radio show, so I
hope I can ferret out some more details on how fast cloned replacement
organs can be forced to grow - faster than 16 years to maturity, one would
hope.
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MEDIA RELEASE
14 August 2000
THERAPEUTIC CLONING BREAKTHROUGH
Embryonic stem cell experts at the Monash Institute of Reproduction and
Development have taken another important step in the quest to develop
therapeutic cloning techniques for the treatment of diseases like
Alzheimers, Parkinsons and diabetes.
Therapeutic cloning involves culturing stem cells in the laboratory that
could become replacement nerves and organs to overcome a range of
devastating illnesses.
Earlier this year the team at Monash Institute announced that they were the
first in the world to grow nerve cells in the laboratory.
The next stage in the development of this therapy is to grow these cells
using a patient's own DNA, so that when introduced to the body, the immune
system will not reject them.
In another world first the Monash team has proven this theory using a mouse
model. The scientists have established cloned mouse stem cell lines which
have the potential to grow into any type of mouse cell.
"This is an important development and proof of principle of therapeutic
cloning theory," said Professor Alan Trounson, Deputy Director of the
Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development.
"Much important research is still needed before we can take this treatment
to the public however this model is an important step that brings together
the specialised skills of the team at Monash Institute," said Professor
Trounson.
Monash PhD student, Ms Megan Munsie, has removed the genetic material or
DNA from an unfertilised mouse egg. She has replaced it with the nucleus
or DNA of another developed cell from a "target mouse". This insertion of
a nucleus from a developed or differentiated cell "fertilizes" the egg by
introducing two complete sets of chromosomes.
"An embryo is grown for several days to blastocyst stage," explains Ms
Munsie. "Stem cells are then removed from the embryo and cultured in the
laboratory."
"These stem cells have the same genetic make up as the original target
mouse and therefore if we were to program the cells to become a specific
body type, theoretically they could be introduced to the target mouse to
treat illnesses," said Ms Munsie.
This study is being published in the August edition of Current Biology.
The commercial partner for this research is Australian biotechnology
company, Stem Cell Sciences.
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Damien Broderick
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