Ian Wilmut has been unsuccessfully asking the British government for permission to create a cloned human embryo since 2001. The mastermind behind Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal, recently admitted to being depressed after so many delays in getting started.
But even as Wilmut seeks to get to the starting line in a global race to clone a human embryo, he acknowledged Tuesday that the cloning efforts may be eclipsed. Other scientists, he said, may find a way to create personal lines of healing stem cells without cloning at all.
...
"In my view, it is difficult to predict which will come first but I think we need to try both," Wilmut said Tuesday. "If I had to bet money, I would probably bet on reprogramming" rather than cloning.
The science of reprogramming, he said, is moving quickly, and scientists working in the field don't have to deal with the myriad obstacles facing cloning.
A question you may ask yourself is "Why does Wilmut stick with therapeutic cloning to create personalized stem cell lines when reprogramming has fewer obstacles?"
Good question. I wish I knew.
Learn more about Wilmut, and post your opinion.
Cloner Offers Sad Tale [Hartford Courant]
