Yup - I'm in favour of therapeutic cloning... "Therapeutic cloning is based on the concept that the best way to get stem cells that are a perfect match for a patient -- thereby preventing immune rejection -- will be to create a clone of that patient, develop the embryo to around 100 cells, then remove the stem cells. Researchers consider the technique promising for treating spinal cord injuries and Alzheimer's disease".
The official Canadian position/law does not allow for therapeutic cloning: March 2004 - passed by the Canadian Senate without amendment / officially became law on March 27, 2004 as it received royal assent
BILL C-6 - An Act respecting assisted human reproduction and related research
The bill bans human cloning, sex selection, commercial surrogate motherhood contracts, the sale of sperm and eggs, and sets out rules on human embryonic stem cell research… will also establish the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada, to establish a regulatory body to oversee the area of assisted human reproduction (AHR) and related research in order to protect and promote the health and safety of Canadians using AHR technologies.
Bernard Siegel, president of the Genetics Policy Institute: "While it is commendable that Canada will ban reproductive cloning, they are off-base in prohibiting therapeutic cloning. Some of their brightest scientists will be compelled to find labs elsewhere. Canada loses the opportunity to advance the potentially greatest medical advance of our time, one that promises understanding of mankind's worst afflictions and the regeneration of tissue without rejection."
Genetics Policy Institute
"flexible" = derivations from fertility clinic donations only, excluding somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and often under certain restrictions - "Research is permitted only on remaining embryos no longer needed for reproduction." Countries in this category include Canada, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands, Taiwan…
"permissive" = various embryonic stem cell derivation techniques including somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also called research or therapeutic cloning. SCNT is the transfer of a cell nucleus from a somatic or body cell into an egg from which the nucleus has been removed. Countries in this category include the United Kingdom, Belgium, Israel, India, China…