Broad welcome as human cloning gets go-ahead

The House of Lords decision last week to allow a limited form of human cloning for therapeutic research into severe neurological conditions has been given a broad welcome by the scientific and medical community.Professor Richard Garner, chair of the Royal Society working group on stem cell research, said the decision could see the UK becoming a world leader in the subject.'Unlike the US, the UK has proper regulation of research on embryonic stem cells in both the public and private sectors, 'he said. In the same week, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has granted the first licences for medical researchers to experiment on human embryos.A group at Edinburgh University looking for a treatment for Parkinson's disease and a team at Guy's Hospital in London, investigating neural disorders, infertility and miscarriages, have had their applications approved.