"A British scientist who led researchers who created Dolly the sheep is to abandon cloning using embryos for a rival method which makes stem cells without them, a report says.

Professor Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University gained celebrity but also attracted criticism from some religious groups and pro-life campaigners after being involved in the cloning of the first mammal from an adult cell in 1996.

But British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reports that Professor Wilmut has now decided against pursuing a licence to clone human embryos which he was awarded two years ago, in favour of a different method.

The method, pioneered by Professor Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University in Japan, creates stem cells from fragments of skin in mice without using embryos.

Professor Yamanaka is now believed to have done the same with human cells, the paper reports..."

Labels: cloning, science