NEW YORK: A U.S. biotechnology company has developed a new way of creating stem cells without destroying human embryos, billing it as a potential solution to a contentious political and ethical debate. "This will make it far more difficult to oppose this research," said a spokesman for Advanced Cell Technology.

Stem cell researchers were impressed by the new technique's ability to produce two robust lines of stem cells without requiring the destruction of embryos, and a White House spokeswoman called it encouraging. However, few on either side believe the new procedure would end the long-running bitter impasse over the science.

Stem cells have become a sort of holy grail for advocates of patients with a wide variety of illnesses because of the cells' potential to transform into any type of human tissue. But the Vatican, U.S. President George W. Bush and others have argued that the promise of stem cells should not be realised at the expense of human life, even in its most nascent stages. "The science is interesting and important," said John Harris, a Professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester in Great Britain, commenting on the biotech company's efforts. But a representative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops rejected the method as "gravely unethical."

The new technique takes just a single cell from an early-stage embryo and uses it to seed a line of stem cells. The rest of the embryo retains the potential to develop into a healthy human.

A paper describing the method was published online on Wednesday by Nature that published a similar paper by Advanced Cell Technology researchers last year demonstrating the technique's viability in mice.

Researchers complain that the new approach, though it may hold future promise, simply is not as efficient as their current method of creating stem cells.

Those who oppose any research that destroys a biological entity with the potential for human life argue that the new procedure solves nothing, because even the single cell removed in the technique could theoretically grow into a full-fledged human. — AP

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