SCIENTISTS have defended their plans to clone human embryos as research watchdogs consider whether or not they should be allowed to go ahead.

A licence application from Newcastle University was on the agenda at yesterday's meeting of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's Research Committee.

The five committee members are likely to recommend acceptance of the proposal, despite opposition by pro-life groups.

But a final decision from the authority is not expected until early next week.

The Newcastle team wants permission to clone embryos that can be used to develop radical new treatments for diabetes.

Cloning to create duplicate human babies is outlawed in Britain, but therapeutic cloning to boost medical research has been legal since 2002.

It involves cloning embryos and harvesting stem cells from them, which could in future be used to treat a range of diseases.

The embryos are destroyed before they are 14 days old and never allowed to develop beyond a cluster of cells the size of a pinhead.

Last month, the Stem Cell Group at the International Centre for Life, in Newcastle, applied for a licence to permit human cloning as part of its research programme.

The eggs used would be donated by couples undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

Stem cells taken from embryos have the potential to be turned into any kind of replacement tissue.

Cloning would mean that new tissue will not be rejected by the recipient.

Dr Miodrag Stojkovic, from the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, who is heading the project, said: "I will be very disappointed if our application is turned down because I believe this research holds out great promise for the future of modern medicine."