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Human
Cells
Ready
to
Treat
Disease
in
Six
Months,
Says
Human
Embryo
Cloning
Pioneer
Dec.
5,
2001
-
Dr.
Michael
West,
President,
Advanced
Cell
Technology,
told
a
Senate
subcommittee
on
Tuesday
that
his
goal
is
to
use
cloned
human
cells
to
generate
tissue
for
treating
diseases
within
six
months.
In
pleading
with
the
appropriations
subcommittee
to
keep
the
Senate
from
blocking
his
research
efforts,
Dr.
West
said
he
plans
to
develop
cloned
embryos
to
extract
stem
cells
that
can
be
used
to
grow
new
tissue
in
the
body.
"We're
not
talking
about
the
cloning
of
humans,"
said
West.
"We're
talking
about
the
cloning
of
cells."
"I
would
argue
rather
than
slow
medical
research,
we
take
the
time
to
carefully
learn
these
issues,"
he
said.
The
company's
first
embryo
was
too
small
to
generate
stem
cells.
In
Britain,
an
emergency
bill
that
prohibits
the
planting
of
a
cloned
embryo
in
a
womb
became
law
Tuesday
after
receiving
royal
assent.
The
measure
was
rushed
through
both
chambers
of
Parliament
after
a
High
Court
judge
ruled
last
month
that
the
government
had
no
control
over
the
use
and
research
of
embryos
created
by
cloning.
The
wording
of
the
British
law
means
scientists
would
still
be
allowed
to
use
cloning
to
create
embryos
for
stem
cell
research.
In
Sweden
Tuesday,
the
Swedish
Research
Council
said
that
therapeutic
cloning
is
ethically
defensible
and
called
on
the
government
to
change
legislation
to
allow
the
procedure.
"The
long-term
benefits
regarding
medical
treatment
based
on
this
technique
could
be
great,"
the
council
said.
In
the
U.S.
Congress,
some
Republicans
made
an
unsuccessful
bid
Monday
to
have
the
Senate
take
up
a
bill
that
would
place
a
six-month
moratorium
on
cloning
until
lawmakers
could
have
extensive
debate
in
the
spring.
The
House
passed
a
bill
banning
cloning
in
July.
Sen.
Sam
Brownback,
R-Kan.,
a
leading
abortion
opponent,
told
lawmakers
they
should
take
"time
out,
let's
just
think
a
little
bit"
before
allowing
scientists
to
proceed.
But
the
issue
has
clearly
divided
lawmakers,
many
of
whom
said
they
would
support
the
research
as
long
as
scientists
did
not
clone
a
human,
according
to
reports
by
the
Associated
Press.
"What
business
do
we
have
as
long
–
as
we
don't
allow
reproductive
cloning
–
to
tell
the
scientists
what
to
do?"
said
Sen.
Arlen
Specter,
R-Pa.
Sen.
Tom
Harkin,
D-Iowa,
said
he
planned
to
introduce
a
bill
that
would
ban
reproductive
cloning
only.
"I
believe
it
would
be
tragic
to
allow
our
outrage
about
human
cloning
to
blind
us
to
the
promise
that
(the
research)
holds."
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