Scientists for the first time create human stem cells through cloning

A breakthrough in stem cell research could pave the way for new medical treatments

A team of scientists have successfully cloned human embryos that can produce stem cells, a major breakthrough that could lead to new medical treatments and, potentially, human cloning.

Scientists from Oregon Health and Science University, reporting their finding Wednesday in the journal Cell, said they had taken a baby's skin cells and combined them with human eggs. The result? Human embryos genetically identical to the original baby that, crucially, were able to produce fresh stem cells.

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The process, known as a somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), involves taking the nucleus of one cell and implanting it into an unfertilized egg that has had its nucleus removed.

"The egg 'reprograms' the DNA in the donor cell to an embryonic state and divides until it has reached the early, blastocyst stage," explains Nature's David Cyranoski. "The cells are then harvested and cultured to create a stable cell line that is genetically matched to the donor and that can become almost any cell type in the human body."

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That technique is essentially what scientists used to create Dolly, the infamous cloned sheep, in the mid 1990s. Since then, however, researches had been unable to successfully recreate that process in human cells.

Stem cells are incredibly versatile, as they can be turned into any kind cell in the human body. As such, scientists have long hoped they could one day use stem cells to grow new tissues or organs, and to treat a host of serious, degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

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Scientists for the first time create human stem cells through cloning