Michael D. West

Michael D. West is president and chief executive officer of Advanced Cell Technology, a biotechnology company based in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Finding a humane and practical means of meeting America’s growing health care needs may depend on the advancement of embryonic stem (ES) cell technology. Stem cells derived from early-staged human embryos have the potential to generate a wide range of human tissues for transplantation. As encouraging as stem cell  technology may be, the high probability that an individual’s body will reject transplanted tissues remains a challenge. However, if an individual has embryos cloned from his or her own cells, tissues and organs could be created specifically for that individual through ES technology. Therefore, research into cloning early-staged human embryos for therapeutic purposes...