The approach would involve removing one cell from a very early embryo that has developed to about eight cells (called a morula), and deriving stem cells from that single cell. The embryo would still have the potential to develop into a human if implanted into a womb. The only thing preventing the scientists from trying the process is money, said Dr. Yury Verlinsky, director of RGI.

He and his colleagues at RGI have become experts at a technique called pre-implantation diagnosis, which helps reproduction specialists during in vitro fertilization identify embryos that are most likely to grow into healthy babies. They take one cell, called a blastomere, from the embryo, which is not damaged by the process, and test the cell for genetic markers. The researchers say they might be able to expand that single cell into an embryonic stem-cell line.

The researchers say deriving stem cells from morulae is a more straightforward method, and the resulting cells might be more powerful, than taking them from older embryos at the blastocyst stage (about a week old).

Columbia University researchers suggested using embryos left behind at IVF clinics that have died; they compared that technique to harvesting organs from a brain-dead person for transplantation.The only problem is, no method exists for determining whether a stored embryo has died. The Columbia researchers suggest studying large numbers of embryos to find markers of a dead embryo.

All of these approaches for getting stem cells without destroying an embryo require more research, which takes time and money...

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