Human stem cell breakthrough cited

WORCESTER, Mass., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said they've found a way to create human embryonic stem cells without destroying the embryo.

The firm Advanced Cell Technology said the development of five human embryonic stem cell lines has the potential to end the ethical debate surrounding the use of embryos to derive stem cells, the company said Thursday in a release.

Single cells were removed from the embryos using a technique similar to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. The biopsied embryos continued to develop normally and were then frozen. The cells that were removed were cultured utilizing a proprietary methodology that improved the efficiency of deriving stem cells to rates comparable to using the traditional approach of taking stem cells from the inner cell mass of a whole blastocyst stage embryo, the report said.

The method, published in the journal Cell Stem Cells, was initially carried out by ACT scientists and then independently replicated by other scientists.

"This is a working technology that exists here and now," senior author Dr. Robert Lanza said in statement. "If the White House approves this new methodology, researchers could effectively double or triple the number of stem cell lines available within a few months."