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The source of this article is Science-Reuters: http://tinyurl.com/48pt6 UK Scientists Say Allowed to Clone Human Embryos Wed Aug 11, 8:15 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said on Wednesday they had received permission to clone human embryos for medical research, thought to be the first such license given in Europe. Researchers at Newcastle University in northern England will be allowed to create embryos as a source of stem cells to cure diseases, a spokeswoman for the university said. The go-ahead was given by Britain's reproduction regulator, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the university said. "It has taken a year of work, and I am most pleased that the HFEA has recognized the potential of this technology in modern medicine," Newcastle University's Dr. Miodrag Stojkovic said in a statement. The scientists said they plan to duplicate early-stage embryos and extract stem cells from them with the aim of developing new treatments for degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes. The embryos will be destroyed before they are 14 days old and will never be allowed to develop beyond a cluster of cells the size of a pinhead. Cloning to create copies of human babies is outlawed in Britain but therapeutic cloning is legal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn