NEWCASTLE, England, May 8 (UPI) -- A research team has applied for a license to create Britain's first cloned human embryo and expects to receive aproval within weeks.
Medical scientists at Newcastle University say their want to create embryos from patients with serious disorders in order to get stem cells for treatment, not to clone a human being. Their first goal is to use stem cells to grow insulin-producing tissue for diabetics.
But anti-abortion and religious groups are expected to vehemently oppose the endeavor.
The Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle is one of two teams in Britian that has cultured stem cells from human embryos. Now they plan to use the technique used to create the cloned sheep, Dolly, implanting nuclei into eggs to get an embryo. The eggs would be donated by women undergoing in vitro fertilization.
"We are not going to be granted that licence unless the appropriate authorities believe we have the expertise, and I believe we do," Professor Alison Murdoch told the Independent.
