The status of human nuclear transfer

Vanessa Hall, Miodrag Stojkovic

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Human therapeutic cloning is a recently emerged application of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which is currently being performed to produce patient-specific stem cell lines for future stem cell therapies. The advantages in producing human nuclear transfer (NT) embryos to derive NT stem cell lines are that these can be tailor-made (i.e., are autologous in nature) for the patient and may overcome the need to administer lifelong immunosuppression following; stem cell transplantation. Although the rationale for using NT embryos is not for reproductive purposes, human NT remains clouded in ethical, moral, and religious controversies. The recent retraction of high-impact factor publications in the field of human NT from a research group in South Korea has placed stem cell research in a delicate situation. These heavily publicized issues may hinder the progress of this research and may threaten to bring current research to a complete halt. This review outlines the recent status of human NT, its continuing progress and the difficulties the field faces. Of most concern are the ethical issues, which surround obtaining human oocytes for research. Recent evidence suggests that failed-to-fertilize oocytes are poor sources for human SCNT, but obtaining fresh, viable oocytes may be even more problematic. The current status of human SCNT is outlined in this review with particular reference made to, lessons learnt from animal research, the oocyte dilemma and optimization of human NT.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)301-308
JournalStem Cell Reviews
Volume2
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Bibliographical note

The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015.
The record was previously connected to the following departments: Neuronal Survival (013212041)

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Cell and Molecular Biology

Free keywords

  • therapeutic cloning
  • embryonic stem
  • cells
  • patient-specific stem cell lines
  • microtubule
  • oocyte
  • nuclear transfer
  • somatic cell

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