Somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning): implications for the medical practitioner

The current century will bring tremendous changes to the science and the practice of medicine. This century will be acknowledged as the century of Biology as the fusion of molecular genetics and experimental embryology pushes the barriers of science beyond perimeters that we have thought existed, as much as the past century was the century of Physics, with all the exact scientific calculations and predictions, resulting in electricity, nuclear power and quantum physics. The first major breakthrough has been the pioneering work of Wilmut and Campbell, first with the birth of Megan and Moran in 1995 (1), followed by the birth of Dolly the sheep, the first reported mammalian clone from a fully differentiated adult cell, reported in July 1996 (2). However, current cloning techniques are an extension of over 40 years of research using nuclei derived from non-human embryonic and fetal cells. However, following the birth of Dolly, the prospects of cloning technology have extended to ethically hazier areas of human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. This review hopes to bring the reader closer to the science and the ethics of this new technology, and what the implications are for the medical practitioner.