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Focuses on the achievement of scientists at Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts to grow embryonic human cells through cloning. Response from pro-life politicians; How publicity for the company may either bring investment or cause an anti-cloning backlash; View of medical director Dr. Robert Lanza that the goal of the company is to make embryonic stem cells; Declaration of United States President George W. Bush that only stem cell lines in existence could be studied with government funds.

The article focuses on a bill backing stem cell research in the state. Although Republican Governor Mitt Romney has said he supports embryonic stem cell research, including the use of surplus embryos from fertility clinics, he surprised the Massachusetts congress in February by announcing his opposition to the legislation, because it allowed the creation of embryos using somatic cell nuclear transfer, or research cloning. The Massachusetts law does not provide funding for stem cell research. Legislators will wait to see what its effects are on private investment in stem cell research in the state before seeking taxpayer dollars.

This article features the scientific advancement in stem-cell research, the possibilities of curing deadly diseases, and controversies surrounding the research. Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are wired to become a particular kind of tissue. Scientists know the most about adult stem cells of the blood, which have been used for decades in bone-marrow transplants for patients with cancer or blood diseases. Stem-cell science is constantly evolving: even with all the recent challenges to plasticity, new studies of adult stem cells continue to report intriguing successes. As a result, scientists say research must proceed down both pathways: adult and embryonic alike. The politicians, meanwhile, are still battling it out. Last week a spokesman for George W. Bush said the president would not relax his restrictions on embryonic research, but Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, says he would overturn the current policy if elected in November. In nations like South Korea, where scientists recently announced that they had extracted stem cells from cloned human embryos, and the United Kingdom, which last month opened the world's first stem-cell bank, more-liberal policies may lead to progress.

The article reports that Massachusetts legislators are bracing for a tough political battle over stem cell research following a surprise announcement by Republican governor Mitt Romney. While Massachusetts is home to many leading stem cell researchers, state laws bearing on research with human embryonic stem cells have been discouragingly vague, requiring county district attorneys to interpret the law for researchers in their jurisdictions. Efforts to clear the way have been quashed in the past by conservative Catholic politicians.

Reports the cloning of human embryo by Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Massachusetts. Release on the details of the project on November 25, 2001; Creation of the cloned embryos for treatment of disease; Statement regarding the goal of the company by vice president Robert Lanza.