Cloning technology has much broader applications than the controversial one of replicating human beings -- it can go a long way towards improving how we live.

Twenty years ago, the birth of the world's first test-tube baby sparked a storm of controversy and heated public debate over the ethical and moral issues surrounding the breakthrough technology. The in-vitro fertilisation issue marked a new frontier for reproductive technology and changed the face of medicine.

Today, the term IVF has long since entered the vernacular, and the debate has moved to cloning technology. Last year, a group of Edinburgh-based researchers successfully cloned Dolly the lamb from a ewe's mammary cell. Since then, the cloning issue has scarcely been out of the newspapers.

Amid stirring arguments and dire predictions from both sides of the ethical divide about the technology's potential, US President Bill Clinton moved to place a ban on the cloning of humans in the United States. A number of other countries, including Denmark and Germany and some Australian states, have banned all forms of cloning in human reproductive medicine by either legislation or regulation.

The recent claim by Chicago physicist Dr Richard Seed that he was ready to produce cloned children for infertile couples reignited debate over the issue and prompted strong reaction from scientists, medical researchers, philosophers, ethicists and ministers of religion.

But in the furore, the potential of the technology behind what is loosely termed 'cloning' and its implications for the future of medicine are in danger of being overlooked, according to Professor Alan Trounson, deputy director of the Institute of Reproduction and Development at Monash University.

Changing perceptions

Professor Trounson is well known for his work with Carl Wood in pioneering the IVF program in Melbourne during the 1970s. These days, his team is also breaking new ground with the development of multiple embryos from single embryos for use in agricultural production. The principle of the technology is the same as cloning.

While he is a vocal opponent of human cloning, Professor Trounson says the positive potential of the technology is being lost in the 'Hollywood'-type understanding of what cloning is really about.

"The term 'cloning' is problematic," he says. "It conjures up an image of Frankenstein in the public imagination. People react against the perception, and this reaction is picked up by the regulators and legislators."

But according to Professor Trounson, cloning technology may represent the next huge revolution in the field of medicine, if scientists are able to produce the de-differentiated regenerative stem cells of a variety of organs. "Cloning processes have the potential to enable us to repair almost any diseased and damaged tissues. This technology could foreseeably wipe out malaria as well as debilitating, degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease. Quadriplegia and paraplegia may become things of the past, as we may be able to repair broken spinal columns," he said.

"While there is limited biological or social merit in the cloning of individuals, and it may be deemed unethical, we should be careful not to lose the substantial benefits of other applications of cloning technol-ogy. These are in danger of being lost through regulatory and legislative pro-cesses, and moratoria."

Dolly research

The Dolly experiment showed scientists it was possible to take differentiated cells and have them revert to undifferentiated stem cells. A differentiated cell is one that has developed to a point in the biological process at which it will contribute to a discrete organ within a living being. Undifferentiated stem cells are the generic product from which these cells are formed.

The findings from the Dolly research have other major implications for medicine and agriculture.

In the field of agriculture, the Monash team has already created hundreds of identical

cattle embryos from a single embryo using cloning technology. This will, they hope, eventually lead to the birth of Australia's first transgenic calves. The improved genetic potential of stock would drama-tically boost beef and dairy production and is likely to replace current artificial breeding techniques.

In a further application, the technology can be adapted to produce large quantities of human or animal pharmaceuticals at a greatly reduced cost and with far greater efficiency.

Professor Trounson stressed that the cloning of an individual was not only unlikely to eventuate because of the weight of scientific and medical opinion against it, but in fact is not achievable.

"We cannot reproduce an individual with exactly the same attitudes, beliefs and behaviour as another original person, because those things are predominantly influenced by environment rather than genetics. But we can use this technology to go a long way towards improving the world in which we live."