ACT’s plight appears to confirm that therapeutic cloning is on the skids. Over the past eight years the US and countries around the world have been embroiled in political and ethical battles about stem cell research. Legislative successes were all sold to legislators and voters because miracle cures from dread diseases were on the way. But now, with an alternative in sight, induced pluripotent stem cells, scientists are being more candid.

James Thomson, of the University of Wisconsin, who first isolated human embryonic stem cells, is dismissive. "It’s less about transplantation than about understanding the human body," he told a public forum in Santa Barbara. And the head of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Alan Trouson, was no more optimistic. A mother of a child with Type 1 diabetes recalled being promised that a cure was around the corner. What’s the new ETA, she asked?. "It’s the classic question; ‘When [will] we cure the disease?’" said Trounson. "It’s a hard one to answer. I don’t think it’s realistic to tell you it’s going to happen soon." ~ Santa Barbara Independent, July 20