Tuesday 1st November 2005 - Cloning and stem cells: the science and the spin

Professor John Bryant (School of Biosciences, University of Exeter)

When Dolly the cloned sheep was presented to the world, it was easy to get the impression from the media that human cloning was just around the corner. Of course it wasn't; however, what was just around the corner was application of our greater understanding of developmental biology in research on embryonic stem cells, those cells in very early embryos that give rise to all the different cell types in the body. Any protocol that gives rise to embryos in the "test-tube", whether IVF or cloning, can provide a laboratory source of these cells and there has been intense interest in the possibility of using them to repair damaged tissues and organs. Indeed, some reports give the idea that cures for certain degenerative diseases are a matter of months away but again, this is not so. In this SciBAr discussion, John will try to separate the science from the spin in this fascinating area of biomedicine.

John Bryant is a Professor in the School of Biosciences at the University of Exeter, Fellow of the Wessex Institute of Technology and Visiting Professor at West Virginia State University. He is also Immediate Past–President of the Society for Experimental Biology and Chair of Christians in Science. He combines his intense interest in the workings of genes with a strong desire to communicate science to a wider public and to get to grips with the social and ethical issues arising from modern biomedical science. In his university teaching this range of interests has seen him lecturing not only on molecular biology but also in establishing and running a Bioethics course for Biology students and for prospective Biology teachers. He is chair of the steering committee of the Higher Education Academy's special interest group on Teaching Ethics to Bioscience students. He has published about 100 scholarly articles and his recent books include Programmed Cell Death in Animals and Plants (with Steve Hughes and John Garland), Bioethics for Scientists (with John Searle and Linda Baggott la Velle), Life in Our Hands (with John Searle), The Nuclear Envelope (with David Evans and Christopher Hutchison) and Introduction to Bioethics (with John Searle and Linda Baggott la Velle). Outside of science, John lists among his interests birdwatching, mountains, running, Bob Dylan, Celtic folk music, cricket and Crystal Palace FC.