Scientists have taken the nucleus of skin cells of 35 and 75-year-old men. They then produced clones of human embryos. These clones were able to make stem cells. Stem cells are one kind of cell that researchers value because any tissue that a body might need.

The team at Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology and the Institute for Stem Cell Research in Los Angeles took the DNA from the skin cells and inserted it into the egg cell of a female donor. This process was performed to grow very early embryos called blastocysts.

The findings, reported in the journal Cell Stem Cell, claimed that cells from these embryos closely matched the men, thereby making it evident that it is possible to make near-identical tissue, blood or organ transplants for the men. Advancements in stem cell technology will one day become the remedy for lethal disease and will save lives of many patients who die waiting for organs.

The researchers, however, said that they would not implant that embryo in a woman but use it for research purposes with an eye toward developing medical therapies. We know that researchers have long been claiming that stem cells can be used to grow tissues the body needs to treat ailments ranging from Parkinson´s to spinal cord injuries and the creation of stem cells from a cloned embryo could lead to the creation of tissues that would be accepted by the person who donated skin cells initially.

The people who are against human cloning said that the new research once again sends a message that  governments must take measures before someone misuse this technology to engineer a human clone.

Cloning has been a topic of debate ever since the first mammal Dolly, a sheep, was cloned in 1996. Scientists have taken cloning a step further and for the first time they have replicated stem cells from the skin of an adult man. Even though cloning has been surrounded by ethical concerns, some scientists are of the opinion that therapeutic cloning can be helpful for the treatment of various diseases.

The recent advancements in therapeutic cloning may be a big step in the medical area. However, the latest advancement also takes scientists a step closer to being able to clone an entire human being.