In January, renowned scientists and researchers lauded the success of Stemagen Corp., a small biotechnology firm in La Jolla, when it became the first to document the successful cloning of human embryos by fusing donated egg cells with the DNA from the skin cells of an adult man. Eggs Wanted # The Issue: Under state law, women are allowed to be paid thousands of dollars for eggs they donate to fertility clinics, but compensation for eggs donated for research is banned. # What It Means: Some scientists say there is a shortage of eggs fueled by the payment ban. The result is a slowdown in medical breakthroughs, they say. # The Other Side: Fans of the ban say paying women to donate eggs for science would create a market for human eggs with so much demand, women may not consider the risks when selling. The research is widely considered a major step toward creating embryonic stem cell lines from cloned human embryos. Those cells are capable of evolving into the more than 200 different cell types in the body and, in theory, could one day be used to replace cells that have been destroyed by […]