Editing Human cloning (section)

==Uses and actual potential==
[[File:Stem cell treatments.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Stem cell treatments]]

Work on cloning techniques has advanced understanding of [[developmental biology]] in humans. Observing human pluripotent stem cells grown in culture provides great insight into [[Human embryogenesis|human embryo development]], which otherwise cannot be seen. Scientists are now able to better define steps of early human development. Studying [[signal transduction]] along with genetic manipulation within the early human embryo has the potential to provide answers to many developmental diseases and defects. Many human-specific signaling pathways have been discovered by studying human embryonic stem cells. Studying developmental pathways in humans has given developmental biologists more evidence toward the hypothesis that developmental pathways are conserved throughout species.<ref name="pmid23362344">{{cite journal |vauthors=Zhu Z, Huangfu D | title = Human pluripotent stem cells: an emerging model in developmental biology | journal = Development | volume = 140 | issue = 4 | pages = 705–17 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23362344 | pmc = 3557771 | doi = 10.1242/dev.086165 }}</ref>

iPSCs and cells created by SCNT are useful for research into the causes of disease, and as model systems used in [[drug discovery]].<ref name="pmid23801830">{{cite journal |vauthors=Subba Rao M, Sasikala M, Nageshwar Reddy D | title = Thinking outside the liver: induced pluripotent stem cells for hepatic applications | journal = World J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 19 | issue = 22 | pages = 3385–96 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23801830 | pmc = 3683676 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v19.i22.3385 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="pmid24232258">{{cite journal |vauthors=Tobe BT, Brandel MG, Nye JS, Snyder EY | title = Implications and limitations of cellular reprogramming for psychiatric drug development | journal = Exp. Mol. Med. | volume = 45 | issue = 11 | pages = e59 |date= 2013 | pmid = 24232258 | pmc = 3849573 | doi = 10.1038/emm.2013.124 }}</ref>

Cells produced with SCNT, or iPSCs could eventually be used in [[stem cell therapy]],<ref name=Singec07>{{cite journal |last1=Singec |first1=Ilyas |last2=Jandial |first2=Rahul |last3=Crain |first3=Andrew |last4=Nikkhah |first4=Guido |last5=Snyder |first5=Evan Y. |title=The Leading Edge of Stem Cell Therapeutics |journal=Annual Review of Medicine |date=February 2007 |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=313–328 |doi=10.1146/annurev.med.58.070605.115252 |pmid=17100553 |s2cid=18623750 }}</ref> or to [[tissue engineering|create organs]] to be used in transplantation, known as [[regenerative medicine]]. Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. [[Bone marrow transplantation]] is a widely used form of stem cell therapy.<ref name=NCI>{{Cite web|date=9 September 2005|title=Blood-Forming Stem Cell Transplants - NCI|url=https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/stem-cell-transplant/stem-cell-fact-sheet|access-date=29 March 2023|website=cancer.gov|language=en|archive-date=13 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150313043919/http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/bone-marrow-transplant|url-status=live}}</ref> No other forms of stem cell therapy are in clinical use at this time. Research is underway to potentially use stem cell therapy to treat [[heart disease]], [[diabetes]], and [[spinal cord injuries]].<ref name="NIH">[http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics6.aspx Cell Basics: What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224060453/https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics6.aspx |date=24 February 2017 }}. In Stem Cell Information World Wide Web site. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009. cited Sunday, 26 April 2009</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Cummings BJ, Uchida N, Tamaki SJ, Salazar DL, Hooshmand M, Summers R, Gage FH, Anderson AJ | title = Human neural stem cells differentiate and promote locomotor recovery in spinal cord-injured mice | journal = Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. | volume = 102 | issue = 39 | pages = 14069–74 | date = September 2005 | pmid = 16172374 | pmc = 1216836 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0507063102 | bibcode = 2005PNAS..10214069C | doi-access = free }}</ref> Regenerative medicine is not in clinical practice, but is heavily researched for its potential uses. This type of medicine would allow for autologous transplantation, thus removing the risk of organ transplant rejection by the recipient.<ref name="pmid23945396">{{cite journal |last=Svendsen |first=C.N. | title = Back to the future: how human induced pluripotent stem cells will transform regenerative medicine | journal = Hum. Mol. Genet. | volume = 22 | issue = R1 | pages = R32–8 |date= 2013 | pmid = 23945396 | pmc = 3782070 | doi = 10.1093/hmg/ddt379 }}</ref> For instance, a person with liver disease could potentially have a new liver grown using their same genetic material and transplanted to remove the damaged liver.<ref name="pmid23322990">{{cite journal |vauthors=Booth C, Soker T, Baptista P, Ross CL, Soker S, Farooq U, Stratta RJ, Orlando G | title = Liver bioengineering: current status and future perspectives | journal = World J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 18 | issue = 47 | pages = 6926–34 |date= 2012 | pmid = 23322990 | pmc = 3531676 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v18.i47.6926 | doi-access = free }}</ref> In current research, human pluripotent stem cells have been promised as a reliable source for generating human neurons, showing the potential for regenerative medicine in brain and neural injuries.<ref name="pmid24171168">{{cite journal |vauthors=Jongkamonwiwat N, Noisa P | title = Biomedical and clinical promises of human pluripotent stem cells for neurological disorders | journal = Biomed Res Int | volume = 2013 |date= 2013 | page = 656531 | pmid = 24171168 | pmc = 3793324 | doi = 10.1155/2013/656531 | doi-access = free }}</ref>