Stem cells created from cloned monkey cells, Therapeutic cloning just a step away

WATCH VIDEO

Mitalipov's still-unpublished success may bring scientists closer to producing human embryonic stem cells from cloned adult body cells. This would reduce the risk of eventual rejection when using external donor cells.

Australian stem cell pioneer Alan Trounson said delegates at the conference were excited by the prospect.

Alan Trounson said, "If it is confirmed by independent laboratories, it could mean that we are able to make -- in the human -- disease-specific stem cells for complex diseases like Alzheimer disease, motor neuron disease or cancers. And this would be a very important step in analyzing the causes of this disease and leading us to much better therapies, I think, in the future."

Previous efforts to obtain embryonic stem cells from cloned primate embryos have failed. South Korean cloning scientist, Woo Sook Hwang, lost his job over fabricated successes using human eggs.

Scientists hope therapeutic or regenerative cloning could help treat diseases including multiple sclerosis, cardiac illnesses and even spinal damage. They think it will encourage embryonic cells to replace damaged nerve, blood or heart cells.

While Mitalipov's findings are yet to be confirmed, they could also bring scientists closer to cloning an adult primate... a group which includes humans, apes and monkeys.

Editor:Du Xiaodan