MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR:
We have breaking news this morning from the world of science. A U.S. laboratory says it has successfully cloned the first human embryo. The Advanced Cell technology scientists have been reportedly working on the project over the past several months. They describe their findings in the Journal of Regenerative Medicine. The transfer of human DNA into human eggs and the growth of those eggs into six-cell embryos. The finding could mean breakthroughs in treatments for deadly disease. It also means a great deal of controversy.

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate's Democratic Whip, objected Tuesday to consideration of the Human Cloning Prohibition Act, which cleared the House 265-162 on July 31. The Senate reconvened Tuesday for the first time since their Thanksgiving recess period.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, had asked that the bill be brought up immediately upon the Senate's return in response to the announcement Sunday by a Massachusetts biotechnology firm that it had created a cloned human embryo.

"Let's stop now, before the horse gets out of the barn further," Brownback told the chamber, "before we see a live, living human embryo."

But Reid argued that insufficient hearings had been held in the Senate on the subject, and he also cited the press of other business before the Senate which it must complete before Congress adjourns for the year. He indicated that the chamber's majority Democrats would be willing to take up the issue next year.

One GOP backer of continued research in the field, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, told his colleagues that calls for quick legislative action were unwarranted because there wasn't a clear enough understanding of the process that led to the reported creation of the cloned embryo.

The technique used by the company, Advanced Cell technology, is called "somatic cell nuclear transfer." During the procedure, a cell from one person's body is combined with a human egg that has had its DNA removed. The DNA from the one cell is reprogrammed during the process, allowing the creation of human stem cells.

"Somatic cell nuclear transfer does not relate to cloning, and the people who call it therapeutic cloning are creating a lot of confusion, because it is not cloning at all, and it certainly not reproductive cloning," Specter said.

Rather, Specter and others have argued that such creations could become reliable sources of stem cells -- basic cells that could be manipulated in laboratories to form a variety of human tissues. Supporters of ongoing stem cell research -- which is controversial enough on its own because some existing stem cell lines were created from cells extracted from aborted fetuses -- say the field of study holds the promise of reversing or even curing many diseases.

But critics of human cloning and stem cell extraction methods essentially believe a human egg that begins to divide for any reason should be considered an embryo, and potential person, that deserves protection under the law.

Greek geneticists yesterday hailed as positive the creation of cloned human embryos by American researchers to develop new medical therapies, but the government said it would not allow such experiments to take place in Greece.
Government spokesman Christos Protopappas said the state Bioethics committee had strict guidelines that would preclude private or state researchers from conducting such work.

"Naturally, under no circumstances will we allow such problems to emerge," he said. "Not in the sense that we are against scientific progress, but because the code of ethics and the general principles must ensure that this progress is used for the benefit of mankind and human society."

On Sunday, scientists at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts, said they had created the first cloned human embryos. This could lead to stem cells - which have the capacity to grow into all kinds of human tissues - being isolated in order to cultivate tissues or organs that could be used for transplants.

"These developments point to positive prospects for the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's, diabetes and kidney ailments, as well as burns," stated Nikos Moschonas, a professor of molecular genetics at the University of Crete. "In the future, we might see the creation of tissues and organs that are compatible with individual patients, or for groups of patients with common genetic traits. These could lead to organ banks."