There's renewed hope for people suffering from liver failure: Scientists may be able to replicate healthy, fully functioning livers from the patients' DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

That is the typical scenario, depicted by scientists and medical professionals, of therapeutic cloning also referred to as stem cell research.

And it might be a step closer to reality in China after the country voted against the United Nations (UN)'s non-binding statement condemning all forms of human cloning.

Cloning refers to the agamic, or asexual, reproduction of a life that results from the transfer of DNA the self-replicating material present, in chromosomes, in all living organisms by scientists.

When cloning involves a human, scientists inject DNA into a germ cell in which the nucleolus has been deleted. The germ cell then grows into stem cells, which, theoretically, can develop into all human cells.

After transferring stem cells, scientists kill the germ cell before it has grown 14 days. Before that deadline, the germ cell is not considered to be a human life.

Scientists use the transferred stem cells to develop human cells or organs needed to cure diseases, such as diabetes or Parkinson's. This whole process is called therapeutic cloning.

However, if the germ cell is implanted in a womb, it may, theoretically, develop into a human being.

This is called reproductive cloning.

On March 8, there were 84 votes in favour of the UN's non-binding statement, 34 against, 37 abstentions and 36 absent in the 191-nation UN assembly.

The statement was supported mainly by the United States and the predominantly Roman Catholic countries, and opposed by the nations with active stem cell research programmes including China, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Japan.

The UN Declaration on Human Cloning called for all member nations to adopt a ban on human cloning, which it said was "incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life."

Chinese delegates to the UN Assembly said the declaration was so obscure that it made people think it included therapeutic cloning.

China opposes cloning aimed at reproducing individual humans, but supports cloning as part of therapy and medical treatment. The nation announced it would maintain a strict controls over the therapeutic cloning.

The declaration is not legally binding, and will not affect the Chinese Government's support of therapeutic cloning and stem cell research, Su Wei, a Chinese delegate to the UN Assembly, was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency immediately following the vote.

"The UN's declaration, in fact, is good news for Chinese scientists, who have done excellent work in this area," Dong Ziping, chief executive of Beijing-based SinoCells Biotechnologies Co Ltd, told China Business Weekly.

Dong's firm has used stem cell technologies to repair damaged human corneas.

The company is developing several stem cell technologies for treating blood and organ-related diseases.

In early February, scientists at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) received approval to conduct China's first clinical trial using human stem cells to treat leukaemia, a form of cancer that affects blood cells.

Although the number of scientists working in stem cell research worldwide is growing, most studies remain in the pre-clinical stage.

The UN's statement, although not legally binding, and the US Government's opposition to human cloning may drive experts in the field to China, where the quality of research and equipment are high and costs are very low, to conduct therapeutic cloning and stem cell research, suggested Qiu Renzong, an expert in bioethics with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Zheng Bin, a researcher with CAMS' stem cell programme, said, over the long term, China's research might receive some resistance in the international community, especially if the international atmosphere remains unfriendly to therapeutic cloning.

Li Qing, chief of the biotech policy section of the China National Centre for Biotechnology Development, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Science and Technology, said China last year established a code of stem cell research ethics.

The Chinese Government and Li's centre will seek international co-operation to develop more reasonable and operable rules to prevent therapeutic cloning from being used to reproduce humans.

Despite the rosy picture, Dong said there is one concern: China's stem cell research has been too academic.

Most of the projects are funded solely by the government, and few researchers consider the market or have the ability to finance or market their products.

More professional biotech managers should be hired, or trained, to ensure China's biotech sector develops smoothly, Dong said.

(China Daily 03/28/2005 page8)