CBNNews.com- Scientists have made human skin cells take on the cloning characteristics of embryonic stem cells -- a breakthrough that might someday deliver the medical payoffs without the ethical controversy.

"This work represents a tremendous scientific milestone - the biological equivalent of the Wright Brothers' first airplane," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer of Advanced Cell Technology, which has been trying to extract stem cells from cloned human embryos.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said the president "is very pleased to see the important advances in ethical stem cell research. By avoiding techniques that destroy life, while vigorously supporting alternative approaches, President Bush is encouraging scientific advancement within ethical boundaries."

The new work is published online by two journals, Cell and Science. The Cell paper is from a team led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University; the Science paper is from a team led by Junying Yu, working in the lab of in stem-cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Both scientists reported creating cells that behaved like stem cells in a series of lab tests.

Thomson, 48, made headlines in 1998 when he announced that his team had isolated human embryonic stem cells.

"People didn't know it would be this easy," Thomson said. "Thousands of labs in the United States can do this, basically tomorrow."

Although the new work is considered a success, the technique requires disrupting the DNA of the skin cells, which creates the potential for developing cancer.

So it would be unacceptable for creating transplant tissue that in theory could be used to treat diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's, and spinal cord injury.

But the DNA disruption is just a byproduct of the technique, and experts said they believe it can be avoided.

Scientists prize embryonic stem cells because they can turn into virtually any kind of cell in the body. The cloning approach - which has worked so far only in mice and monkeys - should be able to produce stem cells that genetically match the person who donates body cells for cloning.

In cloning, those eggs are used to make embryos from which stem cells are harvested. But that destroys the embryos, which has led to political opposition from President Bush, the Roman Catholic church and others.

Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of pro-life activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called the new work "a very significant breakthrough in finding morally unproblematic alternatives to cloning.. I think this is something that would be readily acceptable to Catholics."

The discovery is stirring hope at the nation's capital, where the bio-ethical issue has remained a top concern for President Bush. Now that research is yielding proof of alternatives to embryo-driven research, the White House is enthusiastic about advancing research in an ethically responsible way.

"The President believes medical problems can be solved without compromising either the high aims of science or the sanctity of human life," Perino said. "We will continue to encourage scientists to expand the frontiers of stem cell research and continue to advance the understanding of human biology in an ethically responsible way."