Is SCNT Really Human Cloning

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BDF Bioethics Briefing Sheet

Is SCNT Really Human Cloning?
Major Science Establishments Say YES

Those who have political and financial motives to promote the tax-payer funding of cloning human embryos for the purpose of their destruction often say that "SCNT is really not human cloning." They say that the human cloning process known as "somatic cell nuclear transplantation" (SCNT or nuclear transplantation) really creates a "ball of customized cells," not a human embryo. Take a look at what science establishments say:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science

“While use of the term embryo can be polarizing, it can also promote clarity, even where some feel it has too great a political, emotional, or social ‘charge.’ Thus, for the purposes of this report, we have chosen to use the term cloned embryo to describe the product of nuclear transplantation.” [1]

National Academies of Science

“Cloning using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). . . leads to the formation of a blastocyst, or pre-implantation embryo.” [2]

“Stem cells derived from embryos are called embryonic stem cells. . .” [2]

The American Medical Association

“Human therapeutic cloning involves the cloning of human embryos for the purpose of extracting stem cells that can be used to repair tissues and organs.” [3]

The International Society for Stem Cell Research

“Therapeutic cloning: somatic cell nuclear transfer for the isolation of embryonic stem cells.” [4]

UK Human Fertilization & Embryology Authority

“The cloning technique, cell nuclear replacement, involves removing the nucleus of a human egg cell and replacing it with the nucleus from a human body cell, such as a skin cell. The egg is then artificially stimulated. This causes the egg to divide and behave in a similar way to a standard embryo fertilized by sperm.” [5]
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[1] Regulating Human Cloning, American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC, April 2003; pg. 4.

[2] Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Cloning, Report of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, Jan. 2002; pg. 2-2, 2-4 (preprint).

[3] AMA Basic Genetics – FAQs, www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/print/4646.html.

[4] Glossary of Stem Cell-Related Terms, International Society for Stem Cell Research, http://www.isscr.org/public/glossary.htm (last checked January 8, 2006).

[5] HFEA grants the first therapeutic cloning license for research, Press Release of the UK Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, August 11, 2004,(last checked January 8, 2006).

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