UK Pro-lifers Alarmed as First Cloned Human Embryo Becomes Reality

British scientists are celebrating a historical milestone in medical advancement as a team in Newcastle University successfully cloned the country's first human embryo, according to the breaking news from BBC today. Meanwhile, another stormy schism over the ethical issues on cloning has been reignited among pro-lifers and conservative Christians.

The first cloned human embryo was "born" at the International Centre for Life in Newcastle in the hands of the experts from the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University. The team has performed therapeutic cloning using human embryos. Scientists aim to yield stem cells with a perfect genetic match tailored to the individual from the cloned embryos.

Stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any tissue in the body and could, and in theory, could be used to replace damaged cells in conditions such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes, meaning an alternative treatment to these diseases.

The Newcastle University Team was granted a licence to perform therapeutic cloning by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in Britain. It was the first time such a licence has been granted in Europe, and it sparked great concern regarding the moral pitfalls of reproductive cloning.

In March, the UN voted in favour of a ban on all human cloning - both therapeutic and reproductive - but this was non-binding which means therapeutic cloning can still be accepted by individual nations.

Pro-lifers are concerned that the cloned embryos will be destroyed after the stem cells are extracted which raises the ethical issue.

A pro-life group, Comment on Reproductive Ethics said to the London Telegraph, "The moral issues remain unaltered; to destroy human life in order to attempt to cure others is an inadmissible trade-off."

LIFE, a leading pro-life charity, was quoted by the London Telegraph as saying, "We can assume that they can reliably produce embryos healthy enough to try implanting them in women. This Frankenstein science should be banned."

A comment on Reproductive Ethics echoed the same opinion, "This kind of research cloning will inevitably lead to reproductive cloning. This alone is sufficient reason to justify an immediate prohibition on work in this field."