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BBC Thursday, 13 March, 2003, 09:58 GMT Lords to rule on cloning The House of Lords is set to rule on whether therapeutic cloning should be allowed. The procedure involves taking healthy cells from a patient and using them to create copies, which could be used to replace or repair damaged or diseased tissues and organs. Five Law Lords will announce their decision on Thursday. It is the latest round in a court battle by pro-life campaigners to change the law on therapeutic cloning. Scientists hope the procedure could one day help people who have had strokes or spinal cord injuries, or who have conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Therapeutic cloning is governed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The Act was amended by Parliament in January 2001 to include cloning research. 14 days old But the Pro-life Alliance is challenging that decision. It says the decision by Parliament was invalid because cloning was not covered by the original 1990 Act. It sought a judicial review, and won its case at the High Court in November 2001. But the Court of Appeal overturned the decision a few months later. The Alliance then decided to go to the House of Lords. The current law allows researchers to create cloned human cells but not whole embryos beyond 14 days old. The nucleus of an egg cell is removed and replaced with the nucleus of a cell from the person to be cloned. The egg cell creates new cells to form a cloned embryo and this is converted into tissue culture, from which stem cells are obtained. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/2846265.stm Published: 2003/03/13 09:58:40 © BBC MMIII SOURCE: BBC Health News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2846265.stm * * * Murray Charters <[log in to unmask]> http://www.geocities.com/murraycharters/ http://www.TherapeuticCloning.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn