Reproductive Cloning – as seen on tonight’s show – is the use of cloning technology to create a living human being. This “reproductive cloning” lies in sharp contrast to what is known as “therapeutic cloning” – the use of Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) to create special stem cells. SCNT involves removing the nucleus of an unfertilized egg cell, replacing it with the material from the nucleus of a “somatic cell” (a skin, heart, or nerve cell, for example), and stimulating this cell to begin dividing. Once the cell begins dividing, stem cells can be extracted 5-6 days later and used in research of debilitating diseases. This could even mean that scientists could potentially create stem cells that could cure a patient using his/her own DNA.

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