By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
Boston - Researchers at Harvard University said on Tuesday that they have started efforts to clone human embryos as a source of valued stem cells, using only private money to bypass federal restrictions on such work.
The scientists are studying how embryonic stem cells are programmed, will try to correct defects and then try to return the repaired cells to the body to battle diseases like blood disorders, ALS, known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and diabetes.
"Our long-term goal is to create embryonic stem cells from a patient's tissues, correct the genetic defects, and get the repaired cells back into the patients," researcher Dr George Daley of Children's Hospital in Boston said.
The research is controversial because scientists use human embryos which some people say amounts to taking a human life.
The issue has divided Congress, with some lawmakers wanting to give it more funding and others wanting to ban it altogether. President George Bush in 2001 restricted the use of federal money for human embryonic stem cell work to a few existing batches of cells.
But Harvard Provost Stephen Hyman told reporters that the project, which he said is critically important to trying to fight often deadly diseases, has been carefully reviewed and that the team of scientists will follow strict guidelines.
Stem cells are the body's master cells and embryonic stem cells are especially powerful because they can produce any kind of tissue in the body and can be grown, virtually immortal, in laboratory dishes.
The Harvard project, which Daley said will cost millions of dollars, will be financed exclusively by private donors with not one penny of public money.
While Harvard is not alone in trying to clone human stem cells, its effort become America's hub for life sciences is well known. Next year it will break ground on 46 500-square-metre science complex that will house the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.