What are the basic differences between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning?
In reproductive cloning, the intent is to create another human being. In contrast, therapeutic cloning uses specific human cells, genes and other tissues for medical purposes only. It is important to distinguish between creating an entire human being (reproductive cloning) and therapeutic cloning that, used in conjunction with new stem cell research, has the potential to produce new diagnostics, medicines and vaccines. Q: What is Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT)? A: SCNT, also termed nuclear transplantation, is the process of taking the nucleus of a somatic cell (not a sperm or egg cell) and injecting it into an egg whose nucleus has been removed. The egg containing the transferred nucleus divides until it reaches the blastocyst stage, at which time the cells of the inner cell mass are removed and cultured. The resulting stem cells have a reduced risk of rejection because the cells are compatible with the recipient’s own tissues since they were created with the individual’s own cel
