The Human Cloning Foundation (HCF) hailed recent news that a University of Newcastle team in the United Kingdom had successfully cloned a human embryo in Britain for the first time.

“The significance of this achievement is that the cloned human embryo can provide stem cells that can be used for treating all kinds of degenerative diseases,” said David Madrigal, HCF spokesman. “It’s a major step forward for British research into human cloning.”

The British scientists said their aim is to get stem cells from these cloned embryos for treating diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s as well as for paralyzed victims of spinal injuries.

Madrigal noted that this achievement by Newcastle University comes right on the heels of a study in the USA that showed that human stem cells were successfully used to help paralyzed rats walk again. The US study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience barely two weeks previously.

“We are ecstatic that human cloning research has taken great strides in the last few weeks,” said Madrigal.

He added that “the HCF is totally in favor of therapeutic cloning” or cloning with the objective of treating disease and disability.

People can reach the HCF on www.humancloning.org. The Foundation is currently soliciting comments from human cloning advocates for a position paper for the U.S. Senate, which is considering legislation on human cloning.

Contact: david@humancloning.org