Take stem cells without destroying the embryo

People do not need to destroy embryos anymore when they want to remove stem cells for medicine. An American biology company has succeeded in separating cells from embryos without killing them, eliminating long-standing moral problems.

Take a single cell from the embryo, using a familiar technique in IVF.(Photo: Advanced Cell Technology)

Last year, Bob Lanza and his team from Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts, demonstrated that stem cells from mouse embryos could be removed without destroying them. Now they have done this with human embryos - extra embryos in in vitro fertilization.

The researchers applied a technique used in pre-implant gene diagnosis (PGD) - where a single cell or "b lastomere " is removed from a block of 8-10 cells formed in the Early section of the embryo. From this single cell, they can grow a stem cell line, but still let the embryo survive. These stem cells can develop into three major tissue types.

Lanza hoped that because the technique did not kill the embryo, it would be supported by the government, avoiding moral long-standing criticism.

Embryos of artificial insemination have been biopsied to make PGD still grow into normal babies, Alison Murdoch from the International Center for Life in Newcastle, England, said. " However, it is not true to say that biopsies do not affect embryos ," she said. " Some embryos still can't survive ."

Lanza said that before the safety of tissues was examined more carefully, the procedure should only be used on a cell removed from embryos used only for PGD.

T. An