Stem-cell pioneer John Gearhart has resigned from the editorial board of the biomedical journal that last month published a controversial paper claiming the creation of the first cloned human embryos.

Gearhart, a biologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says that in agreeing to publish the work, the journal had failed to uphold scientific standards.

He argues that the research — conducted by the US company Advanced Cell Technology and published in the 26 November issue of the online journal e-biomed: The Journal of Regenerative Medicine — is lacking in several important respects.

Reference: Nature 414, 570 (2001)

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