And now there are three: In the wake of announcements from laboratories in Oregon and California that they had created human embryos by cloning cells of living people, a lab in New York announced on Monday that it had done that and more.
In addition to cloning the cells of a woman with diabetes, producing embryos and stem cells that are her perfect genetic matches, scientists got the stem cells to differentiate into cells able to secrete insulin.
That raised hopes for realizing a long-held dream of stem cell research — namely, creating patient-specific replacement cells for people with diabetes, Parkinson's disease, heart failure and other devastating conditions. But it also suggested that what the Catholic Church and other right-to-life advocates have long warned of — scientists creating human embryos to order — could be imminent.
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