en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_cloning
3 corrections found
No other forms of stem cell therapy are in clinical use at this time.
This is outdated. Stem-cell therapies other than bone marrow transplantation are already used clinically, including the EMA-authorized limbal stem-cell treatment Holoclar.
Full reasoning
The statement is too absolute. While bone marrow/hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation is the best-known stem-cell therapy, it is not the only stem-cell therapy in clinical use.
The European Medicines Agency says Holoclar "is a stem-cell treatment used in the eye" for limbal stem-cell deficiency and that it "can only be obtained with a prescription" and "must only be given" by a qualified eye surgeon in a hospital. EMA also states that Holoclar is authorised for use in the European Union. That means at least one non-bone-marrow stem-cell therapy is already in real clinical use.
Because the article says no other forms are in clinical use, a single well-documented counterexample is enough to show the claim is incorrect.
1 source
- Holoclar | European Medicines Agency (EMA)
Holoclar is a stem-cell treatment used in the eye... Holoclar can only be obtained with a prescription... The medicine must only be given by an appropriately trained and qualified eye surgeon in a hospital... This medicine is authorised for use in the European Union.
Regenerative medicine is not in clinical practice, but is heavily researched for its potential uses.
This is incorrect: regenerative medicine is already used clinically. FDA defines regenerative medicine to include cell therapies and related products, and it maintains a current list of many approved cellular and gene therapy products.
Full reasoning
The sentence says regenerative medicine is not in clinical practice. That is no longer true.
FDA defines regenerative medicine broadly to include cell therapy, therapeutic tissue engineering products, some gene therapy products, and human cell and tissue products. FDA also maintains a current page listing many approved cellular and gene therapy products, which means regenerative-medicine products are already being used clinically rather than existing only as research prospects.
So although regenerative medicine is still an active research field, the categorical claim that it is "not in clinical practice" is false.
2 sources
- Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy Designation | FDA
A drug is a regenerative medicine therapy, which is defined as a cell therapy, therapeutic tissue engineering product, human cell and tissue product, or any combination product using such therapies or products...
- Approved Cellular and Gene Therapy Products | FDA
Below is a list of licensed products from the Office of Therapeutic Products (OTP). Approved Products ... [multiple approved products listed].
However, all these cases involved cloning of fetal cells - as yet, no primate has been cloned from adult cells.
This is false. Chinese Academy of Sciences sources report primate cloning from adult donor cells, including macaques cloned from adult-cell fibroblasts.
Full reasoning
The sentence makes a categorical claim that no primate has been cloned from adult cells. That is contradicted by later Chinese Academy of Sciences reports.
First, CAS's 2018 report on Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua says that although fetal cells produced the successful long-lived clones, adult donor cells were also used, and "those babies only lived for a few hours after birth." That alone contradicts the claim that no primate has been cloned from adult cells.
Second, CAS's 2020 summary states that researchers "cloned five macaque monkeys from the skin fibroblasts of a gene-edited BMAL1-deficient monkey" using SCNT. Skin fibroblasts are adult somatic cells, so this is a direct counterexample.
Because the article says no primate has been cloned from adult cells at all, these documented adult-cell macaque clones make the claim incorrect.
2 sources
- Meet Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, the First Monkey Clones Produced by Method that Made Dolly----Chinese Academy of Sciences
Cells from adult donor cells were also used, but those babies only lived for a few hours after birth.
- Cloning of a Circadian Rhythm-disrupted Macaque Model by Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer----
Researchers ... cloned five macaque monkeys from the skin fibroblasts of a gene-edited BMAL1-deficient monkey using somatic cell nucleus transfer (SCNT).