1 00:00:09,041 --> 00:00:12,067 We are setting out on a fantastic voyage. 2 00:00:15,614 --> 00:00:17,707 A journey into inner-space. 3 00:00:20,719 --> 00:00:23,210 Into the world of ourselves. 4 00:00:24,189 --> 00:00:29,024 Because this is where our future lies, inside each one of us. 5 00:00:29,862 --> 00:00:32,990 Never before could we navigate this microscopic universe, 6 00:00:33,132 --> 00:00:34,963 or view it so clearly. 7 00:00:36,335 --> 00:00:38,860 At the heart of each cell is DNA, 8 00:00:39,004 --> 00:00:42,303 the substance that builds every living creature on this planet. 9 00:00:45,711 --> 00:00:47,872 And now, for the first time in history, 10 00:00:48,013 --> 00:00:50,504 not only can we read our own DNA, 11 00:00:50,649 --> 00:00:51,980 but we can manipulate it. 12 00:00:53,419 --> 00:00:54,852 The future is here. 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:01:00,324 Now. It promises to rebuild broken lives. 14 00:01:03,495 --> 00:01:06,658 Cells will be engineered to grow new organs. 15 00:01:11,503 --> 00:01:14,199 It heralds a brave, new world of prediction. 16 00:01:17,643 --> 00:01:20,544 Super-humans with unhuman abilities. 17 00:01:25,084 --> 00:01:27,143 The hope of extended lives. 18 00:01:27,419 --> 00:01:29,387 A true elixir of youth. 19 00:01:35,260 --> 00:01:38,320 This is the eighth day of creation, 20 00:01:38,630 --> 00:01:41,861 as we explore how to build a human. 21 00:02:10,362 --> 00:02:15,322 In the beginning was the cell, and all life was single celled. 22 00:02:16,635 --> 00:02:20,435 And the cells multiplied - by cloning. 23 00:02:21,907 --> 00:02:24,239 By creating identical copies. 24 00:02:31,083 --> 00:02:34,917 For billions of years this was the way life reproduced. 25 00:02:41,894 --> 00:02:43,794 Clones ruled the world. 26 00:02:43,929 --> 00:02:45,726 Mindless and immortal. 27 00:02:54,473 --> 00:02:57,465 Then, under water, sex evolved. 28 00:02:58,143 --> 00:02:59,667 Sperm met egg. 29 00:03:00,279 --> 00:03:03,442 The mingling of genes sparked an explosion of life. 30 00:03:03,815 --> 00:03:05,783 Millions of new species. 31 00:03:15,394 --> 00:03:19,854 And this potent mix of sex and chance ultimately led to us. 32 00:03:27,005 --> 00:03:30,270 It's taken millions of years for blind chance to turn us 33 00:03:30,409 --> 00:03:33,207 from primitive humans into modern man. 34 00:03:37,482 --> 00:03:40,542 But now we are taking charge. 35 00:03:46,992 --> 00:03:49,358 Biologists are learning how to clone, 36 00:03:49,494 --> 00:03:52,691 and they are mixing genes to create new species. 37 00:03:53,332 --> 00:03:53,889 But above all, 38 00:03:54,032 --> 00:03:57,729 they are becoming masters of the molecules they study. 39 00:03:58,270 --> 00:04:00,261 We are at a turning point in history, 40 00:04:00,472 --> 00:04:03,134 and the potential impact of this work excites leaders 41 00:04:03,275 --> 00:04:05,800 in the field like Princeton's Lee Silver. 42 00:04:06,345 --> 00:04:08,313 Now, as we enter the 21st Century, 43 00:04:08,447 --> 00:04:12,008 it is perfectly clear that we are going to understand 44 00:04:12,150 --> 00:04:15,381 what it means to be human at the smallest level. 45 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,182 We're going to be able to pick apart human cells 46 00:04:18,323 --> 00:04:20,314 and not only are we going to be able to understand it, 47 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:23,223 we're going to be able to manipulate human beings, 48 00:04:23,362 --> 00:04:25,353 we're going to be able to change our genes, 49 00:04:25,497 --> 00:04:26,725 change our cells, 50 00:04:26,865 --> 00:04:30,926 change human beings in every kind of way that you can imagine. 51 00:04:34,773 --> 00:04:38,675 Paul Nurse, winner of a Nobel Prize for his work on cell division, 52 00:04:38,810 --> 00:04:40,641 is well aware that the growing ability 53 00:04:40,779 --> 00:04:43,748 to manipulate DNA worries other people. 54 00:04:44,016 --> 00:04:46,985 We can now do things that people couldn't imagine before. 55 00:04:47,119 --> 00:04:51,954 And it really gets to the central core about what is a human being. 56 00:04:52,090 --> 00:04:55,582 And I honestly think that many, many people are uncomfortable 57 00:04:55,727 --> 00:04:58,821 with the sorts of things that biologists and doctors can do. 58 00:05:03,035 --> 00:05:04,229 Some of the most exciting and 59 00:05:04,369 --> 00:05:06,837 controversial work in modern biology 60 00:05:06,972 --> 00:05:09,304 is going on inside this building. 61 00:05:11,276 --> 00:05:13,676 In here, they're about to attempt something 62 00:05:13,812 --> 00:05:16,110 that has never been done before, 63 00:05:16,248 --> 00:05:18,341 to clone a human embryo. 64 00:05:23,622 --> 00:05:26,056 Doctor Jose Cibelli is working late, 65 00:05:26,191 --> 00:05:30,651 because tomorrow morning he will start an extraordinary experiment. 66 00:05:32,264 --> 00:05:36,724 Jose's dream is to develop new ways to repair damaged humans, 67 00:05:36,868 --> 00:05:40,065 and he plans to do it by cloning. 68 00:05:49,948 --> 00:05:52,781 I dream about this for a long time, 69 00:05:52,918 --> 00:05:55,443 to the point that I think it's an obsession for me, 70 00:05:55,587 --> 00:06:00,183 because if we can actually fulfill this dream, 71 00:06:00,325 --> 00:06:02,486 you can change the life of so many people, 72 00:06:02,627 --> 00:06:05,892 and that's why I'm obsessed with it. 73 00:06:06,031 --> 00:06:08,090 I mean it's a privilege for me to be here, 74 00:06:08,233 --> 00:06:11,225 and I can't wait to get it done. 75 00:06:13,872 --> 00:06:16,841 Jose wants to use cloning to repair people. 76 00:06:19,378 --> 00:06:21,346 Not to create new people. 77 00:06:22,414 --> 00:06:23,972 But though it's for medical purposes 78 00:06:24,116 --> 00:06:26,778 there is fierce opposition to this research. 79 00:06:27,085 --> 00:06:29,645 They are afraid of this new technology because they 80 00:06:29,788 --> 00:06:33,383 or perhaps they have a misconception that this is 81 00:06:33,525 --> 00:06:37,154 that we're creating a human being when, in fact, 82 00:06:37,295 --> 00:06:42,665 we¡¯re just reconstructing a small group of cells. 83 00:06:43,735 --> 00:06:47,262 For years Jose and his company have been cloning animals. 84 00:06:47,806 --> 00:06:50,400 In 1998 they cloned the first cow. 85 00:06:51,443 --> 00:06:54,139 They also cloned a rare ox called a Gower. 86 00:06:54,946 --> 00:06:58,643 Now, Jose will use his skills on another species 87 00:06:59,084 --> 00:07:02,212 he will try to grow an early human embryo. 88 00:07:04,956 --> 00:07:08,392 If he succeeds, his name will go down in history. 89 00:07:20,472 --> 00:07:22,804 Until now, there's only been one way to 90 00:07:22,941 --> 00:07:27,605 create human embryos with egg and sperm. 91 00:07:30,415 --> 00:07:33,350 Sara Waddington got pregnant the conventional way. 92 00:07:35,220 --> 00:07:38,587 But even so, nature had a surprise for her. 93 00:07:40,859 --> 00:07:43,760 Sara is having identical triplets. 94 00:07:43,895 --> 00:07:45,362 Nature's clones. 95 00:07:47,199 --> 00:07:50,259 I picked Carl up from work and he said, 96 00:07:50,402 --> 00:07:52,632 did you do anything interesting at work today. 97 00:07:52,771 --> 00:07:54,466 And I said, no, not really. 98 00:07:54,606 --> 00:07:57,439 Ch, I found out I was pregnant, but that's about it. 99 00:07:57,576 --> 00:08:01,444 And he just went, you are joking? I said, no. 100 00:08:02,914 --> 00:08:06,008 Sara got pregnant at almost the first attempt. 101 00:08:09,387 --> 00:08:13,118 Millions of Carl's sperm travelled to Sara's waiting egg. 102 00:08:19,831 --> 00:08:21,765 Just one burrowed in. 103 00:08:22,934 --> 00:08:26,165 At that moment, a unique embryo was created. 104 00:08:26,771 --> 00:08:29,638 But then something very strange happened. 105 00:08:38,049 --> 00:08:40,074 For reasons no one understands, 106 00:08:40,218 --> 00:08:42,880 Sara's embryo cloned itself. 107 00:08:44,356 --> 00:08:50,693 It split into two, then into three to form identical triplets. 108 00:08:55,467 --> 00:08:57,298 We'd always wanted a family. 109 00:08:57,435 --> 00:09:00,336 Sara wants a bigger family than I do. 110 00:09:00,472 --> 00:09:01,302 I'm sort of in the middle. 111 00:09:01,439 --> 00:09:03,031 But you know, we - you know, 112 00:09:03,174 --> 00:09:04,869 we wanted a few kids running about. 113 00:09:05,010 --> 00:09:06,375 It's going to be quite good. 114 00:09:06,511 --> 00:09:09,139 We just didn't expect them all to come at once. 115 00:09:10,282 --> 00:09:13,410 Six months into her pregnancy Sara has a scan. 116 00:09:14,553 --> 00:09:17,317 It's a chance to see how the triplets are developing. 117 00:09:19,624 --> 00:09:21,854 So one, with the body round here; 118 00:09:21,993 --> 00:09:25,121 two, the head here and the body coming up here. 119 00:09:25,263 --> 00:09:28,630 Twin three, the head here and the body's coming round there. 120 00:09:29,034 --> 00:09:30,763 For the first time they're able to see 121 00:09:30,902 --> 00:09:33,462 a three-dimensional image of the triplets. 122 00:09:34,873 --> 00:09:36,841 Now the face is coming through. 123 00:09:38,910 --> 00:09:40,070 I can see that now. 124 00:09:40,946 --> 00:09:43,938 The little nose, the lips, and you see the eye there. 125 00:09:44,082 --> 00:09:46,380 There's a little bit of cord just over this eye here. 126 00:09:46,518 --> 00:09:47,780 Professor Campbell has confirmed 127 00:09:47,919 --> 00:09:50,217 that Sara and Carl's triplets are boys. 128 00:09:50,355 --> 00:09:51,379 You took it quite badly. 129 00:09:51,523 --> 00:09:53,047 You were really shocked, weren't you? 130 00:09:53,191 --> 00:09:53,555 Well... 131 00:09:53,692 --> 00:09:55,887 And it didn¡¯t just it didn't bother me at all. 132 00:09:56,027 --> 00:09:57,494 It didn't bother you, but you do want a girl. 133 00:09:57,629 --> 00:09:57,856 Mmm. 134 00:09:57,996 --> 00:09:59,691 And you still want a girl is the point. 135 00:10:00,198 --> 00:10:01,062 That's what bothers him, 136 00:10:01,199 --> 00:10:02,689 the fact that we might have to do it again. 137 00:10:03,868 --> 00:10:07,531 Sara will give birth to identical triplets within two months. 138 00:10:09,808 --> 00:10:12,368 Nature is practised at making human clones, 139 00:10:12,510 --> 00:10:14,910 so the odds are high of a successful outcome. 140 00:10:18,717 --> 00:10:20,617 Doctor Jose Cibelli however, 141 00:10:20,752 --> 00:10:23,880 is going into unknown territory with his experiments. 142 00:10:25,423 --> 00:10:29,086 To clone a human embryo Jose first needs human eggs. 143 00:10:34,065 --> 00:10:35,657 A human egg like this. 144 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:37,791 Barely visible to the naked eye. 145 00:10:38,737 --> 00:10:41,331 It could easily fit onto the tip of a pin. 146 00:10:41,773 --> 00:10:45,106 Unlike the cow or bovine eggs Jose practices with, 147 00:10:45,243 --> 00:10:47,939 human eggs are in extremely short supply. 148 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,478 Tomorrow he'll work with some for the first time. 149 00:10:51,883 --> 00:10:55,717 I have access to hundreds and hundreds of bovine eggs, every day. 150 00:10:55,854 --> 00:10:57,321 Human eggs is completely different. 151 00:10:57,455 --> 00:10:58,820 You have only perhaps 152 00:10:58,957 --> 00:11:01,084 tomorrow we're going to get only, 153 00:11:01,226 --> 00:11:04,320 we can get anywhere from zero to twenty. 154 00:11:04,462 --> 00:11:08,626 And each one of them has to survive. 155 00:11:08,767 --> 00:11:11,395 I cannot afford to kill one of them. 156 00:11:11,636 --> 00:11:15,299 When Jose gets eggs, he will start to clone the genes of a man, 157 00:11:18,376 --> 00:11:20,367 a man who lives in Texas. 158 00:11:22,914 --> 00:11:25,610 This man - Judson Somerville. 159 00:11:29,821 --> 00:11:31,186 Judson is a doctor. 160 00:11:31,956 --> 00:11:33,548 He's married with two children. 161 00:11:37,962 --> 00:11:39,088 He loves sport. 162 00:11:39,698 --> 00:11:42,963 He's run, biked and swum in several triathlons. 163 00:11:43,802 --> 00:11:48,739 His life could be described as perfect, except for one thing. 164 00:12:10,328 --> 00:12:12,660 In 1990, when he was 29, 165 00:12:12,797 --> 00:12:14,765 he broke his back in an accident. 166 00:12:20,171 --> 00:12:21,570 In a sense it's like being a prisoner. 167 00:12:21,706 --> 00:12:23,571 I'm not in a jail cell, I can get out, you know, 168 00:12:23,708 --> 00:12:25,835 I have freedoms that a prisoner doesn't. 169 00:12:25,977 --> 00:12:29,208 But I am a prisoner of my own body. 170 00:12:31,950 --> 00:12:35,113 Before his injury, Judson was an athletic six-footer. 171 00:12:36,354 --> 00:12:37,878 I was a very big, strong guy. 172 00:12:38,022 --> 00:12:41,253 And now I'm four foot eight in a wheelchair. 173 00:12:41,392 --> 00:12:44,555 It's, you know, it's a difference, it is a difference. 174 00:12:49,667 --> 00:12:52,761 I was on a bicycle ride with three other doctors, 175 00:12:52,904 --> 00:12:54,735 and I was coming down the mountain, 176 00:12:54,873 --> 00:12:57,774 and coming at a pretty good clip, 177 00:12:57,909 --> 00:13:01,538 and at the base there was a hair-pin turn, 178 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:03,874 I naturally put on my brakes, 179 00:13:04,015 --> 00:13:06,575 the tyre separated and I ended up crashing. 180 00:13:09,587 --> 00:13:12,488 This X-ray shows Judson's spine today. 181 00:13:13,558 --> 00:13:16,049 Steel pins support the shattered bone. 182 00:13:18,062 --> 00:13:20,826 The real harm though, is to his spinal cord, 183 00:13:20,965 --> 00:13:22,660 which has been completely severed. 184 00:13:24,669 --> 00:13:28,196 Judson believes Jose's cloning work offers him hope. 185 00:13:29,407 --> 00:13:34,242 If I could walk and hike and ride my bike and, 186 00:13:34,379 --> 00:13:36,108 you know, live a normal life like this 187 00:13:36,247 --> 00:13:37,976 was just a bad dream that went away, 188 00:13:38,116 --> 00:13:39,674 that would be fabulous. 189 00:13:41,286 --> 00:13:44,016 Judson needs to grow new spinal tissue. 190 00:13:44,489 --> 00:13:45,353 But how? 191 00:13:45,924 --> 00:13:47,892 It's not possible for an adult. 192 00:13:54,666 --> 00:13:58,033 But there was a time when we could all do this amazing feat. 193 00:13:58,670 --> 00:14:00,433 When we were embryos. 194 00:14:07,979 --> 00:14:11,779 An embryo is made up of cells that can turn into the different cells 195 00:14:11,916 --> 00:14:13,474 and tissues of the human body, 196 00:14:13,618 --> 00:14:15,848 so an embryo has to make a heart, 197 00:14:15,987 --> 00:14:17,887 it has to make a liver and it has to make a brain. 198 00:14:18,022 --> 00:14:21,389 That's nature's way of making a human being. 199 00:14:22,794 --> 00:14:25,854 The secret ingredient that gives an embryo its power to grow 200 00:14:25,997 --> 00:14:30,400 and develop is a mysterious cell called an embryonic stem cell. 201 00:14:32,103 --> 00:14:35,072 They first appear about a week after fertilisation. 202 00:14:35,874 --> 00:14:39,503 At this point the embryo is just a small clump of cells. 203 00:14:39,777 --> 00:14:42,302 Among them are a few stem cells. 204 00:14:50,221 --> 00:14:55,249 Here, magnified 15,000 times, are human stem cells. 205 00:14:56,261 --> 00:14:57,455 They are unique. 206 00:14:58,096 --> 00:15:02,157 They alone can transform themselves into any kind of human cell. 207 00:15:03,034 --> 00:15:04,968 A nerve cell, for example. 208 00:15:10,041 --> 00:15:13,499 As it divides it will build a brain and spinal tissue. 209 00:15:19,584 --> 00:15:22,644 Cr a heart cell. Eventually, 210 00:15:22,787 --> 00:15:26,052 multiplying enough times to construct a whole heart. 211 00:15:40,939 --> 00:15:45,273 Doctor Tony Atala is fascinated by the potential of stem cells. 212 00:15:46,711 --> 00:15:50,010 He sees many children whose bodies are ravaged by disease, 213 00:15:50,348 --> 00:15:53,374 children who could benefit from stem cell technology. 214 00:15:58,623 --> 00:16:02,286 In his lab he's growing new body parts and testing them on animals. 215 00:16:06,831 --> 00:16:09,299 Let's say that a patient needs a windpipe, 216 00:16:09,434 --> 00:16:12,232 we can take a small biopsy from that patient, 217 00:16:12,370 --> 00:16:14,463 grow the cells outside of the body, 218 00:16:14,605 --> 00:16:18,063 and then seed them onto a mould in the shape of a windpipe, 219 00:16:18,209 --> 00:16:21,144 and then it creates a windpipe tissue 220 00:16:21,279 --> 00:16:25,648 which we're able to implant back into the patient. 221 00:16:25,783 --> 00:16:29,184 And in fact, what you're seeing here is a windpipe 222 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,949 which is the size that would be used in a human. 223 00:16:35,593 --> 00:16:37,561 He's already built blood vessels. 224 00:16:39,297 --> 00:16:42,630 And created a kidney using rat stem cells. 225 00:16:44,769 --> 00:16:48,500 Here, we have a much more complex structure, 226 00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:51,767 a kidney, and this is a miniature kidney, 227 00:16:51,909 --> 00:16:53,934 but when implanted experimentally, 228 00:16:54,078 --> 00:16:57,138 we can actually see it make urine. 229 00:16:57,281 --> 00:16:59,442 And hopefully, in 10 years, 230 00:16:59,584 --> 00:17:01,609 this technology would be available 231 00:17:01,753 --> 00:17:04,119 for patients with kidney failure. 232 00:17:06,491 --> 00:17:09,016 Any type of tissue can be grown in this way. 233 00:17:10,895 --> 00:17:12,260 Even spinal tissue. 234 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:18,165 Regrowing Judson's spinal cord, 235 00:17:18,302 --> 00:17:21,328 even partially, could transform his life. 236 00:17:24,042 --> 00:17:25,976 The spinal cord's very complicated. 237 00:17:26,377 --> 00:17:29,369 However, if I could even get a little more function 238 00:17:29,514 --> 00:17:31,038 it would make it easier for me. 239 00:17:34,886 --> 00:17:37,821 I try to keep a stiff upper-lip as they say, 240 00:17:37,955 --> 00:17:40,753 but there's a lot of things that are very frustrating. 241 00:17:41,826 --> 00:17:43,851 Getting around, getting in and out of my car, 242 00:17:43,995 --> 00:17:46,657 getting in and out of bed, getting in the shower, 243 00:17:46,798 --> 00:17:50,029 getting onto the toilet, you know. 244 00:17:50,168 --> 00:17:53,296 Once I get to bed it's just like I made it, 245 00:17:53,438 --> 00:17:54,962 I made it one more day. 246 00:17:56,541 --> 00:18:00,477 Stem cells offer the hope of doing what his own body cannot. 247 00:18:03,214 --> 00:18:06,183 Like Judson, this rat has a severed spine. 248 00:18:06,784 --> 00:18:08,581 Its legs are paralysed. 249 00:18:09,287 --> 00:18:13,246 To treat it, doctors twisted fibres into the shape of spinal cord, 250 00:18:13,391 --> 00:18:15,188 seeded them with stem cells and 251 00:18:15,326 --> 00:18:17,817 implanted them into the rat's back. 252 00:18:19,097 --> 00:18:20,997 Stimulated by a molecular signal, 253 00:18:21,132 --> 00:18:24,932 the stem cells started to grow, forming new spinal tissue. 254 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,808 The results surpassed all expectations. 255 00:18:39,083 --> 00:18:42,644 When we started this project we were hoping to see 256 00:18:42,787 --> 00:18:45,278 any sign of neurological recovery, 257 00:18:45,423 --> 00:18:50,019 such as movement of a toe maybe, is what our initial hope was. 258 00:18:50,161 --> 00:18:53,995 And this was just completely unexpected. 259 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,567 The effects of stem cell therapy were dramatic. 260 00:18:59,904 --> 00:19:02,873 Although still weak, the rat's legs are moving. 261 00:19:03,407 --> 00:19:05,671 Messages from the brain are getting through. 262 00:19:08,779 --> 00:19:11,111 Post-mortems carried out on other rats 263 00:19:11,249 --> 00:19:14,082 show how well the spinal cord had regrown. 264 00:19:16,654 --> 00:19:19,817 So rat stem cells can patch up a rat's spine. 265 00:19:23,861 --> 00:19:27,888 But to fix his spine, Judson would need human stem cells, 266 00:19:28,166 --> 00:19:31,294 preferably stem cells that won't be rejected by his body. 267 00:19:31,636 --> 00:19:34,264 Cells that match his own DNA. 268 00:19:37,608 --> 00:19:40,702 Judson needs stem cells cloned from his own body. 269 00:19:41,646 --> 00:19:44,012 To get stem cells what you really need 270 00:19:44,148 --> 00:19:48,209 is an embryo of the patient that we're trying to treat. 271 00:19:48,553 --> 00:19:51,886 And the only way we can do that is by cloning, 272 00:19:52,023 --> 00:19:54,924 that is by taking one of the cells of the patient, 273 00:19:55,059 --> 00:19:58,586 putting it into an egg - a human egg, 274 00:19:58,729 --> 00:20:01,095 and then allowing that egg to turn into an embryo 275 00:20:01,232 --> 00:20:03,097 and produce the stem cells that we need. 276 00:20:03,234 --> 00:20:06,601 And it's by this cloning process that we can generate cells 277 00:20:06,737 --> 00:20:09,262 that won't be rejected by the patient's body. 278 00:20:11,442 --> 00:20:15,242 And this is why Jose is preparing to clone cells from Judson. 279 00:20:18,616 --> 00:20:19,844 He passionately believes 280 00:20:19,984 --> 00:20:22,475 that this process called Therapeutic Cloning 281 00:20:22,620 --> 00:20:25,180 could transform the lives of many people. 282 00:20:27,592 --> 00:20:31,528 A recent survey is saying that about 120 million people 283 00:20:31,662 --> 00:20:34,130 can potentially benefit from this therapy, 284 00:20:34,265 --> 00:20:36,426 so this is a revolution in medicine. 285 00:20:39,003 --> 00:20:42,564 And such a revolution could impact on all our lives. 286 00:20:43,874 --> 00:20:46,468 Imagine, you're driving home. 287 00:20:50,014 --> 00:20:53,882 Your kidneys, liver, heart all damaged beyond repair. 288 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:04,455 While you're on life support plans 289 00:21:04,595 --> 00:21:07,086 for growing replacement parts can begin. 290 00:21:21,712 --> 00:21:25,546 Using cloned stem cells doctors will grow spare parts 291 00:21:25,683 --> 00:21:28,311 that are exact doubles of the originals. 292 00:21:41,899 --> 00:21:46,393 But this vision of the future depends on creating cloned human embryos, 293 00:21:47,204 --> 00:21:49,570 something no one has ever done before. 294 00:21:52,943 --> 00:21:55,537 Jose Cibelli, however, is going to try. 295 00:21:59,917 --> 00:22:03,751 The BBC have been given exclusive access to follow the whole procedure. 296 00:22:06,824 --> 00:22:09,315 First of all, Jose needs human eggs. 297 00:22:13,197 --> 00:22:15,324 He waits outside while they're collected 298 00:22:15,466 --> 00:22:18,162 from an anonymous donor at a nearby clinic. 299 00:22:21,305 --> 00:22:24,240 Human eggs are so hard to obtain that, initially, 300 00:22:24,375 --> 00:22:27,071 Jose's wife volunteered to donate hers. 301 00:22:27,712 --> 00:22:29,577 This is a difficult procedure. 302 00:22:29,714 --> 00:22:31,181 My wife wanted to do it, 303 00:22:31,315 --> 00:22:34,341 and she partially started to be 304 00:22:34,485 --> 00:22:37,283 stimulated and then had to be stopped. 305 00:22:37,421 --> 00:22:39,218 She's not the right age. 306 00:22:39,357 --> 00:22:42,554 So I am very, very thankful for this woman 307 00:22:42,693 --> 00:22:45,526 that is going to help us get the research done. 308 00:22:47,231 --> 00:22:51,497 A security guard is with Jose to ensure the eggs don't go astray. 309 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:57,530 Human eggs are precious, 310 00:22:57,675 --> 00:23:01,702 because a woman's ovaries normally produce just one egg every month. 311 00:23:08,018 --> 00:23:09,315 But under the influence of hormone 312 00:23:09,453 --> 00:23:13,890 injections a woman's body can produce up to twenty eggs at a time. 313 00:23:19,196 --> 00:23:20,788 As with infertility treatments, 314 00:23:20,931 --> 00:23:23,559 the eggs are collected under local an aesthetic. 315 00:23:24,301 --> 00:23:27,464 Afterwards, the eggs are carefully counted and inspected. 316 00:23:34,779 --> 00:23:38,078 Each egg is less than a tenth of a millimetre wide. 317 00:23:42,853 --> 00:23:44,753 So Jose, do you know how many? 318 00:23:45,222 --> 00:23:49,158 We got seven. Seven. So that's good. 319 00:23:49,393 --> 00:23:51,759 They predicted east night, I didn't get the message, 320 00:23:51,896 --> 00:23:52,828 but they predicted eight. 321 00:23:52,963 --> 00:23:55,227 So they got seven. That's pretty good. 322 00:24:01,238 --> 00:24:04,674 These eggs could mark the start of a new era in medicine. 323 00:24:05,576 --> 00:24:08,067 The quest to repair people by cloning. 324 00:24:09,079 --> 00:24:11,445 You see, I - I don't want to think about it 325 00:24:11,849 --> 00:24:14,682 until we actually see the cells growing, 326 00:24:14,819 --> 00:24:16,013 I don't want to think about it. 327 00:24:17,188 --> 00:24:20,749 And when it's time to celebrate, we'll celebrate. 328 00:24:31,936 --> 00:24:34,803 Arriving safely back at HQ the security guard 329 00:24:34,939 --> 00:24:37,373 still accompanies Jose down to his lab. 330 00:24:57,061 --> 00:24:59,495 The eggs will remain under lock and key. 331 00:25:11,175 --> 00:25:14,303 Jose now faces the greatest challenge of his life. 332 00:25:19,483 --> 00:25:21,144 He will use these eggs to try to 333 00:25:21,285 --> 00:25:24,948 create the first few cells of an embryo of Judson. 334 00:25:25,389 --> 00:25:31,385 To do this, Jose needs one more vital ingredient - Judson's own cells. 335 00:25:38,435 --> 00:25:41,734 I took a small cutter similar to the straw, 336 00:25:41,872 --> 00:25:45,831 and then with a circular twisting motion bored 337 00:25:45,976 --> 00:25:48,444 down through the skin to pull the biopsy out, 338 00:25:48,579 --> 00:25:49,375 and when I pulled it out, 339 00:25:49,513 --> 00:25:53,415 the bit of tissue stays inside of the cutter. 340 00:25:53,551 --> 00:25:57,385 Fortunately, I don't have any sensation so it doesn't hurt, 341 00:25:57,521 --> 00:26:01,389 but it certainly looks pretty horrible when you're doing it. 342 00:26:01,692 --> 00:26:05,150 This is a vial that contains several thousands of cells 343 00:26:05,296 --> 00:26:07,321 from the skin of Jud. 344 00:26:08,032 --> 00:26:09,397 So what I'm going to do today, 345 00:26:09,533 --> 00:26:11,330 I'm going to take one of these cells, 346 00:26:11,468 --> 00:26:14,562 just one, and inject it into an egg. 347 00:26:16,073 --> 00:26:17,165 Judson's skill cell, 348 00:26:17,308 --> 00:26:19,333 like almost every other cell in his body, 349 00:26:19,476 --> 00:26:21,239 contains all the genetic information 350 00:26:21,378 --> 00:26:23,505 needed to build another Judson. 351 00:26:25,182 --> 00:26:27,707 No skin cell is visible to the naked eye. 352 00:26:28,953 --> 00:26:31,683 But enlarged 60,000 times 353 00:26:31,889 --> 00:26:35,689 the breathtaking interior world of the cell bursts into view. 354 00:26:41,565 --> 00:26:44,329 At the heart of the cell lies the nucleus. 355 00:27:13,464 --> 00:27:16,991 Protected inside the nucleus are chromosomes. 356 00:27:17,368 --> 00:27:21,862 Chromosomes are nothing more than tightly bound packages of DNA. 357 00:27:23,774 --> 00:27:24,934 When they're unravelled, 358 00:27:25,075 --> 00:27:28,567 the characteristic double-strands of DNA are revealed. 359 00:27:29,346 --> 00:27:32,838 Each strand of DNA carried hundreds of genes. 360 00:27:36,587 --> 00:27:39,317 And it's these genes that build everything, 361 00:27:39,556 --> 00:27:42,320 from the shape of your nose to the colour of your skin. 362 00:27:57,307 --> 00:28:02,108 Jose will insert the nucleus containing Judson's DNA into a human egg. 363 00:28:03,547 --> 00:28:05,913 Doing this should turn the adult skin cell back 364 00:28:06,050 --> 00:28:08,143 into its early embryonic form. 365 00:28:11,822 --> 00:28:14,120 But how it does this is a mystery. 366 00:28:15,125 --> 00:28:16,888 We know the magic is in the egg. 367 00:28:17,027 --> 00:28:18,392 Now, how it works, we don't know, 368 00:28:18,529 --> 00:28:19,791 and we keep saying that the person 369 00:28:19,930 --> 00:28:23,832 that can find that out should be given the Nobel Prize. 370 00:28:24,401 --> 00:28:28,497 First, Jose has to remove the glowing nucleus out of the tiny egg. 371 00:28:39,583 --> 00:28:42,381 This nucleus contains the genetic material of the woman 372 00:28:42,519 --> 00:28:44,248 who donated this egg. 373 00:28:45,255 --> 00:28:49,214 It cannot be mixed with Judson's DNA or a hybrid would result. 374 00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:54,162 Now, Jose is ready to collect one of Judson's skin cells. 375 00:28:57,835 --> 00:29:01,271 I'm trying to load the cell inside the pipette. 376 00:29:05,642 --> 00:29:08,270 Okay, the cell is inside the pipette. 377 00:29:08,645 --> 00:29:10,510 I'm going to go and 378 00:29:10,647 --> 00:29:14,014 I'm going to go and grab an egg and inject the cell in. 379 00:29:14,985 --> 00:29:17,579 Finally, Jose is ready to begin. 380 00:29:20,524 --> 00:29:25,552 So I'm ready to inject one of these cells 381 00:29:25,963 --> 00:29:27,487 into the egg for the first time. 382 00:29:27,998 --> 00:29:30,592 So anything could happen. 383 00:29:30,734 --> 00:29:33,567 It could be that we end up killing the egg 384 00:29:33,704 --> 00:29:35,262 without even doing anything. 385 00:29:36,006 --> 00:29:38,406 So I'm very nervous, 386 00:29:38,542 --> 00:29:43,172 and my heart is pumping, so I'd better stop talking. 387 00:29:45,015 --> 00:29:48,348 Jose is about to cross an entirely new frontier. 388 00:29:55,793 --> 00:29:57,283 So I just went through the zone, 389 00:29:57,427 --> 00:30:01,727 and now I'm gonna go try to pierce the membrane, 390 00:30:01,865 --> 00:30:04,891 I'll be very gentle. 391 00:30:05,402 --> 00:30:08,394 One stroke should be enough, I guess. 392 00:30:19,316 --> 00:30:23,878 For the first time in history we are seeing instead of a sperm, 393 00:30:24,154 --> 00:30:26,179 a cell containing the complete genetic 394 00:30:26,323 --> 00:30:30,089 make up of a human go into a human egg. 395 00:30:46,844 --> 00:30:49,312 And now I'm going to go backward very slowly. 396 00:30:53,984 --> 00:30:57,681 The first egg now has Judson's skin cell inside it. 397 00:31:08,832 --> 00:31:12,666 Jose then injects the remaining eggs with skin cells. 398 00:31:12,803 --> 00:31:15,567 He will use chemicals to shock each egg into behaving 399 00:31:15,706 --> 00:31:17,571 as if it had been fertilised. 400 00:31:17,975 --> 00:31:20,239 If it works they will divide. 401 00:31:26,683 --> 00:31:28,412 The egg's still waiting for a sperm. 402 00:31:28,952 --> 00:31:31,216 If we don't do anything they are just going to sit there. 403 00:31:31,355 --> 00:31:35,849 So we are going to let it sit there for about two hours, 404 00:31:35,993 --> 00:31:37,756 and then we're going to trigger 405 00:31:37,895 --> 00:31:40,728 development artificially, without sperm. 406 00:31:41,365 --> 00:31:43,492 If these eggs divide we will be a step 407 00:31:43,634 --> 00:31:47,070 closer to the age of truly personalised medicine. 408 00:31:53,443 --> 00:31:57,573 And stem cells will have wider usage than just building body parts. 409 00:32:01,318 --> 00:32:04,446 They could also provide treatments for diseases like diabetes, 410 00:32:04,588 --> 00:32:06,783 Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. 411 00:32:16,133 --> 00:32:20,126 Ultimately, perhaps, they could be used to replace older cells. 412 00:32:24,241 --> 00:32:26,471 Delaying the ageing process. 413 00:32:41,358 --> 00:32:43,349 But these dreams lie in the future. 414 00:32:45,996 --> 00:32:47,930 For now, Jose has to wait. 415 00:32:48,799 --> 00:32:52,200 It will be two days before he knows if the eggs have divided. 416 00:32:54,905 --> 00:32:58,363 Jose is trying to grow an embryo for stem cells. 417 00:33:02,479 --> 00:33:04,743 Even advocates of such research are aware 418 00:33:04,881 --> 00:33:07,816 that many people will find this unacceptable. 419 00:33:08,652 --> 00:33:10,950 These advances in modern medicine and biology 420 00:33:11,088 --> 00:33:13,716 are really getting to the core of what life is, 421 00:33:13,857 --> 00:33:16,985 and that makes many people very uncomfortable. 422 00:33:17,127 --> 00:33:21,496 So taking an embryo and using the cells is something 423 00:33:21,631 --> 00:33:23,622 that many people think is murder. 424 00:33:26,870 --> 00:33:29,395 Others think that murder is a strange term 425 00:33:29,539 --> 00:33:31,973 to apply to a group of cells so small 426 00:33:32,209 --> 00:33:33,767 they could fit on the tip of a pin. 427 00:33:35,579 --> 00:33:38,139 All you have at the beginning for the first two weeks, 428 00:33:38,281 --> 00:33:41,250 is a mass of cells, and when you want 429 00:33:41,385 --> 00:33:43,512 to make embryonic stem cells 430 00:33:43,653 --> 00:33:47,020 what you're doing is taking cells from this initial embryo, 431 00:33:47,157 --> 00:33:49,182 which is just a mass of cells. 432 00:33:49,326 --> 00:33:53,558 So it is alive in the sense that, yes, it's a human life, 433 00:33:53,697 --> 00:33:56,757 but it's not alive in the sense of being conscious. 434 00:33:56,900 --> 00:33:58,367 And I think there's quite a difference 435 00:33:58,502 --> 00:34:01,767 between conscious life and cellular life. 436 00:34:04,074 --> 00:34:08,033 At the moment, human embryos are the best source of stem cells. 437 00:34:08,478 --> 00:34:10,207 Until new sources of stem cells are 438 00:34:10,347 --> 00:34:13,214 found the debate about their use will continue. 439 00:34:15,619 --> 00:34:17,484 Jose Cibelli is about to discover 440 00:34:17,621 --> 00:34:20,317 if the eggs have divided or cleaved. 441 00:34:25,562 --> 00:34:28,360 We'll be very, very lucky if we get development today, 442 00:34:28,498 --> 00:34:29,556 because this is the first try, 443 00:34:29,699 --> 00:34:31,530 and usually the first try doesn't work. 444 00:34:32,002 --> 00:34:35,631 So I'm trying to be mentally prepared for not seeing them cleave. 445 00:34:44,614 --> 00:34:47,549 If the eggs have divided while in this incubator, 446 00:34:47,684 --> 00:34:49,709 Jose will have produced the first few cells 447 00:34:49,853 --> 00:34:52,048 of Judson Somerville's clone. 448 00:35:01,131 --> 00:35:04,032 No, there's no cleavage, there's no cleavage. 449 00:35:04,167 --> 00:35:12,233 They are - basically they are rested, as a one cell. 450 00:35:13,009 --> 00:35:15,170 So they're alive, 451 00:35:15,312 --> 00:35:17,803 some of them are alive, but they haven't cleaved. 452 00:35:18,748 --> 00:35:20,215 So this time it didn't work. 453 00:35:22,185 --> 00:35:23,311 We'll have to try it again. 454 00:35:29,826 --> 00:35:31,088 Very disappointed. 455 00:35:34,698 --> 00:35:35,858 I'll have to try it again. 456 00:35:40,337 --> 00:35:44,501 I guess they said that we haven't failed if we keep trying, 457 00:35:45,308 --> 00:35:47,276 so we're going to keep trying. 458 00:35:51,248 --> 00:35:54,274 There are those who will be glad that Jose has failed. 459 00:36:01,791 --> 00:36:04,555 For one of the main fears about this technology is that 460 00:36:04,694 --> 00:36:07,561 it will not stop at cloning stem cells. 461 00:36:14,104 --> 00:36:16,163 Going from cloning a few cells 462 00:36:16,306 --> 00:36:19,400 to cloning a child would be a huge leap. 463 00:36:22,546 --> 00:36:26,004 But there will be demand, in some cases, hard to resist. 464 00:36:28,752 --> 00:36:30,151 There are certain human situations 465 00:36:30,287 --> 00:36:34,053 where one has lots of sympathy for the people involved. 466 00:36:34,191 --> 00:36:39,128 An example would be where parents have a child who has died or dying, 467 00:36:39,262 --> 00:36:43,596 and they might be tempted to think about reproductive cloning. 468 00:36:46,770 --> 00:36:50,433 So that they could somehow bring that child back to life. 469 00:36:56,046 --> 00:36:58,071 My own personal view is that I really 470 00:36:58,215 --> 00:37:00,877 don't think that's a good idea, I really don't. 471 00:37:04,421 --> 00:37:07,549 Human cells live on for a few hours after death, 472 00:37:07,958 --> 00:37:10,950 so cloning the dead is theoretically possible. 473 00:37:12,529 --> 00:37:14,724 But if you really wanted to replace a child, 474 00:37:14,864 --> 00:37:18,698 it would be better to take cells from the living, before they die. 475 00:37:21,705 --> 00:37:26,142 James McErlain sees cloning as a future option for his child. 476 00:37:30,814 --> 00:37:34,750 My little boy, Jamie, is seven years of age, 477 00:37:34,884 --> 00:37:39,548 and he's physically perfect, a beautiful body, 478 00:37:39,689 --> 00:37:40,917 beautiful limbs. 479 00:37:41,057 --> 00:37:46,552 He - unfortunately, he mightn't live until he's ten. 480 00:37:47,230 --> 00:37:49,596 Jamie is severely brain damaged. 481 00:37:52,636 --> 00:37:56,128 He has only peripheral vision; he cannot talk, 482 00:37:56,273 --> 00:37:59,333 and he has no control over any of his muscles. 483 00:37:59,809 --> 00:38:02,073 He has the mental ability of a baby. 484 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,544 He's been in comas several times. 485 00:38:05,849 --> 00:38:08,841 He requires his parents' care 24 hours a day. 486 00:38:14,257 --> 00:38:15,087 They believe that while he was 487 00:38:15,225 --> 00:38:18,217 in the womb Jamie's brain was perfect, 488 00:38:18,361 --> 00:38:20,795 that his genes built a normal baby. 489 00:38:22,866 --> 00:38:25,164 However, Jamie's birth was difficult. 490 00:38:25,302 --> 00:38:28,066 Soon after, he seemed to have little fits of choking, 491 00:38:28,204 --> 00:38:30,263 later diagnosed as epilepsy. 492 00:38:31,408 --> 00:38:34,036 Jamie was 21 months when his parents finally discovered 493 00:38:34,177 --> 00:38:36,509 the truth about the outlook for their son. 494 00:38:41,184 --> 00:38:43,914 I was absolutely devastated. 495 00:38:44,054 --> 00:38:48,457 I think it was possibly the worst day of my life. 496 00:38:48,591 --> 00:38:50,320 It was just like a death really. 497 00:38:51,027 --> 00:38:52,961 I mean when I left hospital with my baby 498 00:38:53,096 --> 00:38:54,961 I just thought he was like the other two boys, 499 00:38:55,098 --> 00:38:56,622 perfectly healthy. 500 00:38:57,934 --> 00:39:00,300 But then to hear the actual news 501 00:39:00,437 --> 00:39:02,064 that he was profoundly mentally and 502 00:39:02,205 --> 00:39:04,400 physically disabled for life, 503 00:39:04,541 --> 00:39:11,606 and nothing short maybe of a new brain would fix him, it was devastating. 504 00:39:17,721 --> 00:39:21,282 In the future, stem cells might help children like Jamie. 505 00:39:22,158 --> 00:39:24,956 But what really stirs his father's imagination 506 00:39:25,095 --> 00:39:27,029 is the prospect of cloning him. 507 00:39:27,864 --> 00:39:32,198 When the cloning thing came along, to me, 508 00:39:32,335 --> 00:39:37,102 my greatest wish would be able to recreate 509 00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:39,606 that little boy that I didn't have. 510 00:39:40,677 --> 00:39:42,975 Jamie is not expected to live very long. 511 00:39:43,279 --> 00:39:44,439 By the time Jamie dies, 512 00:39:44,581 --> 00:39:47,880 cloning may have become a practical option for the McErlains. 513 00:39:57,827 --> 00:39:59,317 If the situation does arise that I would 514 00:39:59,462 --> 00:40:03,262 have the opportunity of being able to clone him 515 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:08,463 and very much have that little boy that I was denied, 516 00:40:08,605 --> 00:40:13,372 that's my sort of wish that I would like. 517 00:40:14,577 --> 00:40:16,101 His wife doesn't agree. 518 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:18,843 I know I probably would want my Jamie back, 519 00:40:18,982 --> 00:40:20,779 but I'd want my Jamie as he is, 520 00:40:20,917 --> 00:40:23,477 you know, just as I have gotten to know him. 521 00:40:23,753 --> 00:40:24,879 As he is right now, I'd want him back. 522 00:40:25,021 --> 00:40:26,648 I wouldn't want my Jamie if he was... 523 00:40:26,790 --> 00:40:27,654 Yes. But I can tell you, 524 00:40:27,791 --> 00:40:28,883 if Jamie was running round playing football... 525 00:40:29,025 --> 00:40:29,548 From day one, yes. 526 00:40:29,692 --> 00:40:30,158 ...you'd be - no, 527 00:40:30,293 --> 00:40:31,555 but even if he got up now and started running around, 528 00:40:31,694 --> 00:40:33,355 are you saying you wouldn't want him to do that? 529 00:40:33,496 --> 00:40:34,292 Well, I suppose I would, but... 530 00:40:34,431 --> 00:40:35,295 Of course you would. 531 00:40:35,432 --> 00:40:36,831 Yeah. But what I would want is somebody 532 00:40:36,966 --> 00:40:39,799 to fix Jamie right now, and that can't be done. 533 00:40:39,936 --> 00:40:43,337 So I'm prepared to let him go when the time comes, 534 00:40:43,473 --> 00:40:47,307 and say goodbye to my Jamie in his entirety. 535 00:40:49,379 --> 00:40:50,937 It might seem that cloning a child 536 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:53,878 would be like bringing him or her back to life. 537 00:41:00,657 --> 00:41:02,454 But geneticist John Burn thinks 538 00:41:02,592 --> 00:41:05,026 such notions are fundamentally flawed. 539 00:41:06,996 --> 00:41:10,432 People often think about cloned humans as sort of huge photocopies. 540 00:41:10,567 --> 00:41:12,057 But of course, they're nothing like that. 541 00:41:12,202 --> 00:41:13,328 If you take an adult cell 542 00:41:13,470 --> 00:41:17,531 from an adult person and create a new embryo, 543 00:41:17,674 --> 00:41:21,576 then you would be producing the same genetic make up, 544 00:41:21,711 --> 00:41:24,805 but in a different womb, in a different generation, 545 00:41:24,948 --> 00:41:27,917 so they would be nothing like as similar as, for example, 546 00:41:28,051 --> 00:41:31,145 identical twins that have formed naturally. 547 00:41:33,423 --> 00:41:35,323 A clone might look the same, 548 00:41:35,458 --> 00:41:36,686 but could never really be the same 549 00:41:36,826 --> 00:41:39,192 because of the influence of the environment. 550 00:41:42,665 --> 00:41:44,223 We know from looking at identical twins 551 00:41:44,367 --> 00:41:46,801 that they're not actually identical. 552 00:41:48,671 --> 00:41:50,229 The outside world will have 553 00:41:50,373 --> 00:41:52,705 an influence on how a person develops, 554 00:41:52,842 --> 00:41:54,434 quite apart from their genes. 555 00:41:54,577 --> 00:41:56,977 And it's not just what happens after you're born, 556 00:41:57,113 --> 00:41:59,206 it's also what happens to you in the womb 557 00:41:59,349 --> 00:42:01,010 that will have an enormous impact. 558 00:42:01,150 --> 00:42:05,917 In other words, we are a combination of our nature and our nurture. 559 00:42:14,731 --> 00:42:17,256 As early as 24 weeks a foetus can hear 560 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,766 and respond to the world around him. 561 00:42:20,303 --> 00:42:23,739 Its growing brain is literally shaped by what it hears. 562 00:42:30,213 --> 00:42:33,307 There has been sort of some evidence to suggest 563 00:42:33,449 --> 00:42:37,010 that classical music particularly to stimulate the brain 564 00:42:37,153 --> 00:42:40,122 and not particularly in a musical sense, 565 00:42:40,256 --> 00:42:45,660 but just can contribute towards intelligence in general. 566 00:42:45,795 --> 00:42:48,320 So obviously we want clever babies, 567 00:42:48,464 --> 00:42:52,924 so anything like that, that would it's worth trying. 568 00:42:54,837 --> 00:42:58,830 Sara and Carl know that their triplets will be physically identical, 569 00:42:58,975 --> 00:43:02,172 but want to encourage their personalities to differ. 570 00:43:02,612 --> 00:43:03,806 The first thing we said we'd do, 571 00:43:03,947 --> 00:43:06,415 we wouldn't dress them identically. 572 00:43:06,549 --> 00:43:09,211 I think it would be quite important for people 573 00:43:09,352 --> 00:43:11,547 to be able to see them as three individual boys, 574 00:43:11,688 --> 00:43:14,350 that they look different for a start, 575 00:43:14,490 --> 00:43:16,151 as to if they're all dressed differently, 576 00:43:16,659 --> 00:43:17,956 I think that would help. 577 00:43:20,763 --> 00:43:22,697 Sara and Carl made lots of preparations 578 00:43:22,832 --> 00:43:24,527 for the birth of the triplets. 579 00:43:25,268 --> 00:43:26,735 But nothing could really prepare them 580 00:43:26,869 --> 00:43:30,600 for the shock of the babies' sudden arrival - seven weeks early. 581 00:43:41,451 --> 00:43:45,353 The triplets were born on August 17th, 2001. 582 00:43:51,561 --> 00:43:53,426 They all came out really quickly, 583 00:43:53,730 --> 00:43:57,393 and they were all crying as soon as they came out, which was nice. 584 00:43:57,533 --> 00:44:01,401 Now they've gone off to Special Care. 585 00:44:07,243 --> 00:44:08,904 I really want to hold them. 586 00:44:09,479 --> 00:44:11,140 It's like they're not mine yet really, 587 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,613 'cos I've only stroked his foot, that's all I've done. 588 00:44:15,051 --> 00:44:16,916 It's really strange to see them all. 589 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,845 I can't really - I can't get an impression 590 00:44:19,989 --> 00:44:20,717 without holding them, 591 00:44:20,857 --> 00:44:23,451 I think, of what they're like. But... 592 00:44:24,794 --> 00:44:27,160 Three new humans have been successfully conceived, 593 00:44:27,296 --> 00:44:31,528 survived the perils of an early birth and are in perfect condition. 594 00:44:46,749 --> 00:44:50,480 These three identical boys started out as a single embryo. 595 00:44:56,359 --> 00:44:59,453 They will have different experiences and different memories. 596 00:44:59,595 --> 00:45:00,994 But they will always be influenced 597 00:45:01,130 --> 00:45:03,758 by the fact that they are nature's clones. 598 00:45:10,306 --> 00:45:14,868 At ACT, Jose's attempts of cloning have been more frustrating. 599 00:45:15,745 --> 00:45:17,975 He had failure after failure. 600 00:45:18,815 --> 00:45:20,840 By early October he had injected over 601 00:45:20,983 --> 00:45:25,511 forty human eggs with DNA, none had divided. 602 00:45:31,661 --> 00:45:35,757 So, when on October 12th Jose looked at his latest batch of eggs, 603 00:45:35,898 --> 00:45:38,230 he expected to be disappointed yet again. 604 00:45:39,635 --> 00:45:41,694 I came to the laboratory that day, 605 00:45:41,838 --> 00:45:43,533 I went to this incubator and opened up, 606 00:45:43,673 --> 00:45:44,731 I took the plate, 607 00:45:44,874 --> 00:45:48,867 put it under this microscope and looked through it. 608 00:45:55,752 --> 00:45:58,721 Expecting dead embryos or one cell embryos, 609 00:45:58,855 --> 00:46:01,346 and I found that some of them had two cells, 610 00:46:01,491 --> 00:46:03,356 four cells and six cells, 611 00:46:03,493 --> 00:46:05,620 and I was really thrilled with that. 612 00:46:05,762 --> 00:46:08,663 I mean as a scientist you don't get moments like this very often. 613 00:46:08,798 --> 00:46:11,062 And I think to me, that was the most important one. 614 00:46:12,101 --> 00:46:15,298 Jose had done something no one had ever done before, 615 00:46:16,005 --> 00:46:18,565 created a cloned human embryo. 616 00:46:21,077 --> 00:46:23,204 His success made world headlines. 617 00:46:44,567 --> 00:46:47,365 Despite the media attention, as Jose drives home, 618 00:46:47,503 --> 00:46:50,836 he knows he is only at the beginning of his scientific journey. 619 00:46:55,244 --> 00:46:58,680 He has so far grown an embryo to the six cell stage. 620 00:47:04,086 --> 00:47:06,748 To recover stem cells, which is his goal, 621 00:47:07,023 --> 00:47:10,550 he needs to grow an embryo of at least fifty cells. 622 00:47:12,261 --> 00:47:15,230 So when we get to that point, that's going to be a big deal. 623 00:47:15,464 --> 00:47:16,556 We're going to celebrate. 624 00:47:17,099 --> 00:47:18,930 We have an old bottle of wine waiting 625 00:47:19,068 --> 00:47:21,127 been waiting there for three years, 626 00:47:21,270 --> 00:47:23,830 so that'll be the time to open that bottle. 627 00:47:26,809 --> 00:47:30,176 In Texas the bottles are already opening. 628 00:47:32,915 --> 00:47:34,405 Judson and his family celebrate 629 00:47:34,550 --> 00:47:37,713 what this groundbreaking science might mean for his future. 630 00:47:40,356 --> 00:47:42,347 There's still a lot of challenges, 631 00:47:42,491 --> 00:47:45,460 a lot of risk, there's a long way to go. 632 00:47:45,962 --> 00:47:49,090 It's like the first flight of the Wright brothers. 633 00:47:49,232 --> 00:47:51,860 It was a total failure if you think about flying 634 00:47:52,001 --> 00:47:55,129 150 feet, then crashed, okay. 635 00:47:55,271 --> 00:47:56,431 And now they have, you know, 636 00:47:56,572 --> 00:47:58,904 jets that fly all the way around the world. 637 00:47:59,041 --> 00:48:00,906 I think of this as the same thing. You know. 638 00:48:01,043 --> 00:48:03,136 Some scientists have described this as a failure, 639 00:48:03,279 --> 00:48:05,406 you know, it only divided three times. 640 00:48:05,548 --> 00:48:09,075 You know. It still flew. It still flew. 641 00:48:10,519 --> 00:48:12,612 How fast and how far this science will 642 00:48:12,755 --> 00:48:15,519 really fly is completely unpredictable. 643 00:48:16,359 --> 00:48:18,554 Opponents will try to have it outlawed. 644 00:48:19,161 --> 00:48:22,597 But it is unlikely that such research can now be stopped. 645 00:48:26,736 --> 00:48:30,934 In the next programme we enter the world of the predictor, 646 00:48:31,274 --> 00:48:35,734 a world where someone's future can be read in a drop of blood.