LONDON -- Scientists advised Britain on Tuesday to allow cloning research involving the use of human embryos to provide spare parts to treat serious illnesses.
In a report that sparked immediate protests from a leading pro-life group, a panel of experts supported the government's ban on human reproductive cloning but left the door open to use the technique to create cloned tissue and organs.They said cloning techniques could be helpful in treating people with brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and various types of cancer in the coming years.
"New treatments might also be developed for diseased or damaged tissue. This would entail growing cells or tissue in culture and not involve human reproductive cloning," Sir Colin Campbell, the chairman of the Human Genetic Advisory Commission, said in a statement.
"We believe that it would not be right at this stage to rule out limited research using such techniques, which could be of great benefit to seriously ill people."
The recommendations were made in a joint report by the HGAC, and the Human Fertiliztion and Embryology Authority, which licenses the country's fertility clinics. The groups were invited in January to advise the government on the legal aspects of cloning.
The cloning of human beings has been banned under British law since 1990, but news last year of the successful cloning of Dolly the sheep has sparked a debate on how to regulate the technology.
Ruth Deech, the chairman of HFEA, said the panel is firmly against cloning babies and realizes that many issues involving cloning will require more consideration before they can be allowed. The recommended reseach into therapeutic cloning would involve using very young human embryos.
"The use of stem cells in particular could have a large number of potential applications and the HFEA is in contact with the Department of Health about the implications of this work," she said.
The pro-life charity LIFE immediately condemned the report supporting therapeutic cloning, warning that it will be the first step towards producing full-term cloned babies.
"This recommendation amounts to the promotion of a new form of technological cannibalism in which the victims are real living members of the human race," said LIFE's director Peter Garrett.
"The proposed techniques will involve producing identical copies of existing people and converting them into tissues and organs for transplantation into the original donors."
The joint report by HFEA and the HGAC analyzed responses to a consultation exercise on cloning earlier this year.