如果议会通过修改现行禁令的立法，英国可能成为第一个批准克隆人类的国家。尽管有了这些举措，但并不是生物学领域的所有人都同意这一观点。根据目前的情况，该修正案将允许克隆胚胎并用于长达14天的科学研究。这项法律不会支持克隆婴儿的创造，而是支持培育用于干细胞研究的克隆胚胎。两名印第安纳大学教授表示，这一举措可能为时过早。这一修正案将允许胚胎生长到大约20个干细胞。干细胞是人类细胞，它不表现出任何特定组织的特性。当它们成熟时，它们会扮演特定的角色，比如器官。当克隆干细胞被用于制造组织时，医学的进步就会到来。科学家们说，他们将通过摘除供体卵子的细胞核，并用病人自身的细胞来克隆病人。 The egg would be allowed to divide and start growing into an embryo. The cloned cells would be genetically identical to the patient's. \nScientists believe patients with the tissue could overcome problems of transplant rejection and bypass the immune system's rejection of foreign cells. If realized, it would be possible to grow nerve cells for spinal repair, pancreatic cells for insulin production or skin cells for burn victims. \nBritain allows human embryos up to 14 days old to be studied for fertility treatments and inherited disease prevention. In the United States, President Clinton banned the use of public funds to clone humans and asked the private sector to adhere to the same policy. Rhode Island, Michigan and California have banned human cloning completely.\nAssociate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology Anton W. Neff said stem cell research has potential to advance medicine. The research in the area of stem cells is currently very active with entire scientific conferences dedicated to its development, Neff said. \n"The potential payback would be enormous…the pockets of industry are very deep" Neff said, referring to Clinton's request to private sector research. "It is probable research in this direction is already being pursued."\nProfessor of Anatomy Anthony Mescher said more preliminary research should be done before the use of human embryos stem cell research. "We have good models of human diseases which can be investigated through mice," Mescher said. \nHe said the use of using cloned human embryos should be postponed until after the possible benefits and implications are more accurately known in other animal systems. \nMescher said stem cell research could have a huge impact on medical organ repair, but that it doesn't necessitate human cloning at this time. \nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.
