WHAT should we make of the news from South Korea on cloning human embryos? Some have rapturously welcomed the study as the breakthrough that will finally unlock the awesome medical potential of embryonic stem cells. Others are outraged, arguing that it will encourage reproductive cloning and lead to a world in which human embryos are routinely destroyed to supply "spare part" tissues. In reality, neither side provides an adequate lens through which to judge an advance that is richer in shades of grey than black and white.
Will the study help would-be reproductive cloners? Certainly the experimental details will save time in other labs. And it would be naive to claim that ground-breaking research which establishes that there is no fundamental biological barrier to creating cloned human embryos will not help the mavericks' cause.
Yet there is also plenty in this study to discourage scientists from trying to clone a ...
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