human cloning

The human cloning is the creation of a human being from the totality of the genetic material of a human already designed.

You could compare this concept to a twin zygosity delayed, and obtained the result of a decision.

The cloning could allow a range of possibilities at the medical level. For example, during a war, to be able to replace a vital organ is affected by that of the clone would be very interesting. The clone would then be used as " a bank for the organs alive."

In January 2008, Stemagen, a firm in California, says in the journal Stem Cell have managed to create for the first time five human embryos by cloning using skin cells of two adult men. After checks, they have managed to confirm with total certainty that these embryos were clones of two men that in three of the five cases. The embryos were destroyed in the course of this verification process.

The technique used by Stemagen is that cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer, which involves inserting it into an oocyte nucleus, the nucleus of an adult cell and then driving the egg and created to maturation. This technique has been used with success in animals, and has even given birth to clones viable : Dolly (sheep) cloned in 1996, Snuppy (dog) in 2005.

In humans, the purpose of the cloning is not to get a viable organization but an embryo whose stem cells could be used for therapeutic purposes. Indeed, these stem cells have the power to differentiate into any cells of the human body. Put on the bone, they become bone cells, in the liver, the liver cells, in the brain of neurons. No risk of rejection, moreover, since they are identical to those of the recipient.

The scientific community must now discuss this study in order to check the reality of this achievement. In fact, since the false announcement in 2004 of the Korean Hwang Woo-suk , who had wrongly asserted to be able to the creation of stem cells from cloned embryos, scientists are stepping up now precautions.

The human cloning and therapy (CHT), or transferring the nucleus of somatic cells, is a technique of production of living material can be used as " medicine ", usually to a graft and to replace an organ destroyed or damaged. The purpose of this technique is genetic compatibility with the patient provided by the cloning.

The technique involves implanting the nucleus from a somatic cell adult into an oocyte nucleus to start the development of an embryo and to obtain cells totipotent also known as stem cells. Indeed, the lines of embryonic stem cells of Blastocyst (5e in 7e day after fertilization) would be likely to be grafted without inducing rejection by the recipient organism. Thus organs " new ", or cells with a high capacity of reproduction, can thus be manufactured, for a transplant. The concept, born at the end of the xxe century, there was still not a reality in 2004. It is possible that it is outdated before this realization, because of the progress on these special cells, that it seems possible to obtain without recourse to their manufacturing indirect cloning (regenerative therapy by stem cell). In addition, this technique is subject to controversy because it relies on a cloning. Some see it as a form more acceptable for its medical purpose, and other a form worse due to the status of the embryo.

The 8 march 2005, theunited Nations general Assembly has decided to ban cloning, even for therapeutic purposes. The united Nations Declaration on the cloning of human beings1, non-binding, was passed with 84 votes for, 34 votes against and 37 abstentions. Among the countries that are opposed to this declaration are France, the United Kingdom, Norway, India, Japan, Canada and China.

The Charter of fundamental rights of the european Union adopted in December 2000 prohibits the reproductive cloning of human beings2.

In the United Kingdom, in August 2004, the Authority on the fertilization and human embryology (HFEA) authorised the professor Miodrag Stojkovic, of the university of Newcastle to clone human embryos for research purposes therapeutic stem cell. A further permission was granted in 2005 professor Ian Wilmut of the Roslin Institute ofEdinburgh. In may 2005, the teams of professors Alison Murdoch and Miodrag Stojkovic, based at Newcastle announced that they had cloned a human embryo.

In Belgium there is currently no specific regulation on the research on the human embryo, but a royal Decree of 1999 establishes the conditions for the accreditation of IVF centres. The constitution of embryos is, in effect, allowed only in these approved centres. For the moment, the scientists responsible for research projects involving human embryos must conduct their work in an IVF centre that is accredited, and the research protocol must receive the approval of the ethics Committee of institutions (universities, agencies).But the government has recently elaborated a draft law regarding embryo research. This project aims to define the conditions under which research on embryos could be carried out and even planned, in some cases, the creation of embryo for research purposes, without specifying for the moment what would be the terms and conditions of this creation. One thing is for sure : all the research should then be subject to controls, both local and federal. This bill must be debated in the belgian federal Parliament shortly.

In South Korea, the team of professor Hwang Woo-Suk is the first to clone a human embryo for scientific research in February 2004. These results have been partly challenged in December 2005 by an independent study, a part of the results have been falsified.

In January 2008, the United States permitted the sale of products from cloned animals : milk, eggs, meat, etc