Cloning From Adult Stem Cells
Via ScienceDaily, a research group is claiming greater success than in past years in cloning efforts using adult stem cells: "A main hurdle in nuclear transfer with adult cells has been its efficiency - out of a hundred attempts, only a handful may succeed - with reported success rates never reaching into double digits. ... Using purified adult skin stem cells as our source of nuclei, we have found that higher nuclear transfer efficiencies can be achieved. ... Nuclear transfer can also be used to make embryonic stem cell lines, a process which can be done in a tissue culture dish and which is simpler and more efficient than generating a cloned mouse. Although this procedure has not yet successfully generated human embryonic stem cell lines, once technological hurdles are overcome, it may be possible in the future to use a patient's skin stem cells to tailor make embryonic stem cell lines, circumventing the problem of immune rejection." An early step in the path to growing replacement tissue (and eventually organs) to order from your own cells, in other words. It's a way to go yet to supercharge regenerative medicine with this line of work - and if you work from adult cells, you transfer some of the damage that comes with being older - but this is a positive step forward.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070212173432.htm