After President Bush's veto last week of an embryonic stem cell funding bill to destroy more human embryos, Molly Dillon of the Nevada Juvenile Diabetes Research said “this (embryonic stem cell research) has nothing to do with cloning…. This is about fertilized eggs from fertility clinics that would otherwise be thrown away as medical waste."
Embryonic Stem Cell Research is a cloning issue because even if the president caved to the powerful biotech industry, it is not likely that these embryos would create the kind of genetic diversity necessary for patient specific matches for mass cures. Why proceed if there are no mass cures?
To create those genetic matches, researchers believe that cloning, using the same technique that created Dolly the Sheep (somatic cell nuclear transfer-or nuclear transfer), will be necessary to create embryos almost identical to the patient. The cloned near identical twin would be destroyed for his or her stem cells in the hope that this near match will not be rejected.
This is also a woman's issue because cloning technology requires unfertilized eggs. Dolly the Sheep was created after the 276th attempt. Even if cloning were to become much more efficient, it would require vast and enormous amounts of unfertilized eggs to create matches for the 100+ million Americans who could benefit. This would involve hyper-ovulatory drugs and surgery to get the eggs. Risks include infertility.
If women are not willing to be exploited for this kind of research and therapy-if it can work, researchers are likely to use rabbits or other animals for those eggs.
Non embryonic stem cell would not require any of this.
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