Scientists have created human embryonic stem cells using a technique that does not require the destruction of embryos -- a development that could break the political roadblock over the highly touted but controversial research.
The method, described today in the journal Nature, involves taking a normal 3-day-old embryo with eight to 10 cells and removing a single cell, which is then biochemically coaxed into producing embryonic stem cells.
The original embryo, despite missing one cell, is unharmed, thus avoiding concerns about destroying life.
Fertility clinics have been removing cells from embryos created in vitro since 1990 to screen them for genetic diseases and chromosomal abnormalities. Doctors estimate at least 2,500 children alive today had a cell or two removed when they were days-old embryos.
The Bush administration, which has restricted federal support for human embryonic stem cell research to prevent taxpayers from funding the destruction of embryos, said it was too soon to say whether the new approach could solve the issue's ethical dilemma.
But White House spokeswoman Emily A. Lawrimore said the work appeared to be a step in the right direction.
"Any use of human embryos for research purposes raises serious ethical concerns, but it is encouraging to see scientists at least making serious efforts to move away from research that involves the destruction of embryos," she said.
Dr. Robert Lanza, the study's senior author, said he believed the technique met reasonable ethical standards and should make the research palatable to social conservatives and the Bush administration.
If Bush warms to the new approach and opens the floodgates of federal funding, it would "give the field a badly needed jump-start," said Lanza, medical director of Advanced Cell Technology Inc. in Worcester, Mass., where the work was done.
Federal funding is limited to about 20 stem cell lines created before August 2001. Last month, despite broad bipartisan support, Bush vetoed a bill to expand funding to more than 100 newer cell lines.
Critics are already saying that the new technique falls short. They said the method injured nascent embryos, and they questioned whether the cell that's removed could itself develop into an embryo.
Richard M. Doerflinger, secretariat for pro-life activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., said the study "raises more ethical questions than answers."
