Stemagen
Encyclopedia
Stemagen is a corporation headed by Dr. Samuel Wood
, notable for cloning adult skin cells. On January, 2008, Dr. Andrew French, Stemagen's chief scientific officer and Wood in California
, announced that they successfully created the first 5 mature human embryos using DNA
from adult skin cells, aiming to provide a less-controversial source of viable embryonic stem cells. Dr. Wood and a colleague donated skin cells, and DNA from those cells was transferred to human eggs. It is not clear if the embryos produced would have been capable of further development, but Dr. Wood stated that if that were possible, using the technology for reproductive cloning would be both unethical and illegal. The 5 cloned embryos, created in Stemagen Corporation lab, in La Jolla, were later destroyed to confirm the nuclear transfer process.
Dr. French, lead author, and five other researchers published their findings in the online research journal Stem Cells, in an article entitled Development of human cloned blastocysts following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with adult fibroblasts.
Samuel H. Wood
Samuel H. Wood is a scientist noted for donating DNA that was used in somatic cell nuclear transfer to produce mature human embryos that were clones of Dr. Wood...
, notable for cloning adult skin cells. On January, 2008, Dr. Andrew French, Stemagen's chief scientific officer and Wood in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, announced that they successfully created the first 5 mature human embryos using DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
from adult skin cells, aiming to provide a less-controversial source of viable embryonic stem cells. Dr. Wood and a colleague donated skin cells, and DNA from those cells was transferred to human eggs. It is not clear if the embryos produced would have been capable of further development, but Dr. Wood stated that if that were possible, using the technology for reproductive cloning would be both unethical and illegal. The 5 cloned embryos, created in Stemagen Corporation lab, in La Jolla, were later destroyed to confirm the nuclear transfer process.
Dr. French, lead author, and five other researchers published their findings in the online research journal Stem Cells, in an article entitled Development of human cloned blastocysts following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with adult fibroblasts.
See also
- Dr. Samuel WoodSamuel H. WoodSamuel H. Wood is a scientist noted for donating DNA that was used in somatic cell nuclear transfer to produce mature human embryos that were clones of Dr. Wood...
- Stemagen Corporation
- Human cloningHuman cloningHuman cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...