Statement of Bioethics Defense Fund on the Direct Reprogramming Stem Cell Studies:

Media contacts: Dorinda Bordlee, dbordlee@bdfund.org 504-231-7234; or Nikolas T. Nikas, ntnikas@bdfund.org, 480-483-3597.

November 20, 2007. Two major scientific papers published today unveil what Bioethics Defense Fund President Nikolas T. Nikas is calling "a significant breakthrough for both science and human rights." Stem cell pioneers in Wisconsin and Japan have released studies in Science and Cell that validate a new method to generate patient-specific stem cell lines without the creation or destruction of human embryos, the use of human cloning, or the use of human or animal eggs.

"This remarkable scientific advance has the potential to bring all sides of the human cloning debate together in a common quest for aggressive yet ethical stem cell research," said BDF senior counsel Dorinda Bordlee. Bordlee noted that the scientist who originally cloned Dolly, Professor Ian Wilmut, has already announced that he was abandoning his license to clone human embryos in favor of the direct reprogramming method.


Bioethics Defense Fund is a public interest legal organization whose mission includes advocating for human rights in science through litigation, legislation and public education. BDF's website is www.BDFund.org.