Dr Michael Antoniou is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Guy’s, King’s & St Thomas’ School of Medicine in London. His area of expertise is chromatin domains, gene organisation and regulation of gene expression. The ultimate aim of his research is to design and deliver therapy gene units to adult stem cells that can address diseases such as muscular dystrophy.

On cloning human beings:
"There are certainly going to be people who will attempt it, whether they will be successful or not is another question. But the point is that the equipment and the know-how to try to clone, are actually readily available, and that is a worry.

I think even if we solved all of the technical problems, and we think that cloned humans are going to be normal; whatever that means, I think it is morally and ethically unacceptable to clone human beings. Therefore there should be an international ban on anything that will contribute to that, and most people that you talk to, agree in that regard."

On the need to use an embryo on the way to creating new tissues from adult cells:
"I think that what has been discovered, especially in the last couple of years, clearly shows that stem cells obtained from adults, have as much therapeutic potential as embryonic stem cells. In fact, it's such a new that we don't know the limits yet of adult stem cell potential. Because now we can take stem cells from the bone marrow, and we can not only regenerate the blood system, but potentially we can regenerate nervous tissue, muscle tissue, heart tissue, liver tissue. Really it's just growing all the time."

On whether problems that develop when cloning whole animals, will develop in cloned embryonic stem cells that scientists want to use to treat disease:
"There is published evidence from a very reputable group in the USA, that shows that actually even embryonic stem cells do have genetic instability, especially epigenetic instability."

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On whether there is a need to use embryonic stem cells:
"We don't need to use embryonic stem cells because of what has been discovered in the last couple of years, which is that, adult stem cells are far more plentiful than originally thought and they can actually be isolated in large numbers, from a number of different tissues. Also, these cells can be grown in culture with varying degrees of efficiency, for example skin stem cells can be propagated for as long as a year. So although I agree that adult stem cell propagation is more difficult than embryonic stem cell modification, I think that it's clear that we can get enough to do the job, from a given person, and I think that's all that's important.

My feeling is that what's out there in the adult stem cells field is not being fully appreciated. Far more is going on than is being acknowledged. I do not understand why it's being said that embryonic stem cells offer the only hope.

I think that it's very important to study a genetic or a cellular phenomenon in its proper context, and I think that if you want to study the signals that trigger adult stem cells to go down a particular differentiation pathway, then you should study them in an adult context, and if you want to find out about embryonic signals, then you should study them in an embryonic context. But the other thing that seems to be remarkable about adult stem cells is their ability to adapt to the environment to which they are introduced, and then contribute to the repair of the area which has been damaged."

On the future:
"I think that it may not be necessary to use embryonic stem cells, because the way that things are progressing in the adult stem cell field, I feel that we will be able to get all we want from a person, at a time when we need it, and offer a range of regenerative stem cell based therapies as a result."

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