Professor Li Jianyuan is the head of China’s leading human embryonic cloning research team, which has just successfully cloned 5 embryos using a new technique developed by his group… The method involves taking cells, commonly from the skin of a donor, and injecting them into a human egg…

The technique is used to create stem cells - cells that have the ability to grow into any type of tissue in the body, and which could, theoretically, be used to cure numerous illnesses…  Li Jianyuan, Professor, Shandong Stem Cell Research Centre: “People care about this field of research, because of its amazing potential. There are many diseases right now that can’t be cured by traditional medical treatments. But if we can make use of this technique for cloning embryos, we can get useful cells to help treat patients and for things like organ transplants…“ Despite its potential to aid the suffering of millions, the technique is controversial because the removal of stem cells leads to the destruction of the cloned embryo…

However the ethical argument, which many countries are now debating, has already been won in China, because of long held beliefs… Qiu Renzong, Professor of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Science: “According to ancient Confucian ideas a person is only truly considered to be a human after birth…

Embryos or fetuses are not counted as human, and this idea has been around for thousands of years. So for Chinese studying cloning techniques to get stem cells, having to destroy many embryos is not a problem “ Despite the moral clarity that scientists in China are able to work under, the government has imposed strict regulations on the way they carry out their research, and many in the country still voice caution over the technology…

Zhai Xiaomei, Professor, Peking Union Medical College: “Even if it is not considered human, it is still a human embryo, and we must treat it in a proper way - according to ethics. We can’t just do what we want with it, and that is why we have regulations in place.”

While controversy over cloning human embryos for stem cells rages on in most of the world, the Chinese are keen to take the research to the next stage, and after this latest breakthrough, are now poised to become global leaders in the field… 2,000 year old principles helping them combat 21st century problems…