At least three groups have announced plans to make their own patient specific cells, a key step in validating the approach Hwang reported. Alison Murdoch and her colleagues at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom announced to the press in May that they had produced cloned early embryos but no ES cells. Ian Wilmut of the University of Edinburgh also has received government and ethical approval to begin work. A group at Harvard University is poised to start as soon as it receives ethical approval from all institutions involved.
George Daley, a member of the Harvard group, says it is too early to tell how flawed the 2005 report is. "Hwang's group was skilled enough to be capable of doing what they claimed," he says. "We'll see how much of the Hwang methodology proves useful when we and others attempt to incorporate it into our own work."
Wilmut agrees. "I very much hope that Hwang and his group can be given time to collect their thoughts," he says. "I am sure that they did make good steps forward and derive cell lines. I hope that they can assemble their data and present it in full because it will help the rest of us to know what can be achieved."
At least three groups have announced plans to make their own patient specific cells, a key step in validating the approach Hwang reported. Alison Murdoch and her colleagues at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom announced to the press in May that they had produced cloned early embryos but no ES cells. Ian Wilmut of the University of Edinburgh also has received government and ethical approval to begin work. A group at Harvard University is poised to start as soon as it receives ethical approval from all institutions involved.
George Daley, a member of the Harvard group, says it is too early to tell how flawed the 2005 report is. "Hwang's group was skilled enough to be capable of doing what they claimed," he says. "We'll see how much of the Hwang methodology proves useful when we and others attempt to incorporate it into our own work."
Wilmut agrees. "I very much hope that Hwang and his group can be given time to collect their thoughts," he says. "I am sure that they did make good steps forward and derive cell lines. I hope that they can assemble their data and present it in full because it will help the rest of us to know what can be achieved."
