ABSTRACT
The lamentable state of secrecy regarding reproductive cloning contrasts starkly with the development of in vitro fertilisation as a treatment for infertility. The reason why the Royal Society advocated a global moratorium on human reproductive cloning rather than outright prohibition is that a full and open discussion of the issues that it raises might lead to recognition of circumstances in which its use was considered appropriate. The consistent occurrence of anomalous development in studies on reproductive cloning in animals inevitably raises concern as to whether embryonic stem (ES) cells produced via cloning would be safe to graft into patients. The notion of using ES cell for therapeutic purposes had hardly captured the enthusiasm of the biomedical community before an unsuspected complexity emerged. From a technical point of view, therapeutic and reproductive cloning differs only in the way in which the resulting embryos are treated, namely whether they converted to a tissue culture or transplanted intact to the womb.
