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hello all here's some interesting news more than interesting potential i wonder if we'll look in the archives in five years and laugh your parkie sister in another island paradise janet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=20 > Cloning Expert Tells NIH That Cell Programming Can Now Be > Directed >=20 > WESTPORT, Mar 14 (Reuters) - Leading with a comment that > cloning research has been a "team game," Dr. Ian Wilmut of > The Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, described for > attendees at an NIH seminar his technique of nuclear > transfer that produced Dolly, the cloned lamb. >=20 > Dr. Wilmut outlined the procedure of using an electric > current to fuse cells at specific stages in the cell cycle. > He said that the fusion is characterized by nuclear membrane > breakdown, condensation and then nuclear membrane > regeneration. Of 277 embryos created, only five survived. Of > these, three died within a few days of birth due to abnormal > development, one died of unknown causes and one produced > Dolly. >=20 > "The process is very inefficient," Dr. Wilmut acknowledged. > Either nuclear transfer or culture causes an increase in > birthweight, prolonged gestation, and an increase in > perinatal mortality that is not associated with either > malformations or abnormal development. >=20 > "We can reprogram the development of a cell," an act that > has broad biological and regulatory implications, Dr. Wilmut > noted. "We can take cells from a patient and cause > differentiation or undifferentiation and redirect them," Dr. > Wilmut said. He pointed out that his is an agriculturally > oriented institution, and his colleagues are considering > using his methods to create superior animals for > agricultural uses. >=20 > "This [technique] will provide the opportunity to > study...the mechanisms of aging...and diseases of the > mitochondria," Dr. Wilmut told the Bethesda, Maryland > gathering. >=20 > Meanwhile, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, > chaired by Dr. Harold Shapiro, held a meeting yesterday at > the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D. C. This presidential > commission has prompted the development of the similarly > named American Bioethics Advisory Commission, which issued a > press release to coincide with the meeting. The American > Bioethics Advisory Commission is a group of scientists and > bioethicists who "...believe that the President's bioethics > panel is biased in favor of experimentation," according to a > PR Newswire report. >=20 > The American Bioethics Advisory Commission's chairman, Dr. > C. Ward Kischer advised caution in reaction to Dr. Wilmut's > cloning success. "The hard data must be examined very > carefully and the results must be repeatable...The 'success' > of one out of nearly 300 attempts is hardly the kind of > statistic that prompts an investment in repeatable > experiments," Dr. Kischer said. >=20 > In Bethesda, Dr. Wilmut echoed Dr. Kischer's words, saying > that he might have had very poor results with one success in > 277, or he might have been extremely lucky--with the odds of > a success one in a million. Only further research will tell. >=20 > Copyright =A9 1997 Reuters Limited. http://www.reutershealth.com/news/docs/199703/19970314scd.html [log in to unmask]