In therapeutic cloning, the nucleus of a cell, typically a skin cell, is inserted into a fertilized egg whose nucleus has been removed. The nucleated egg begins to divide repeatedly to form a blastocyst. Scientists then extract stem cells from the blastocyst. These stem cells can be used in experiments aimed at understanding disease and developing new treatments for disease. In contrast to the goal of therapeutic cloning, the goal of reproductive cloning is to create a new individual.

A major benefit of therapeutic cloning is that the cells removed are pluripotent(can give rise to all cells in the body with the exception of the embryo) This means that pluripotent cells can potentially treat diseases in any body organ or tissue by replacing damaged and dysfunctional cells. Another advantage to this type of therapy is that the risk of immunological rejection is decreased because the patient's own genetic material is used. If a cell line were created with cells from another individual, the patient's body would be more likely to recognise the foreign proteins and then wage an attack on the transplanted cells. The ultimate consequence would be a rejected stem cell transplant. This is one of the major challenges of organ transplants, alongside the fact that there is a huge shortage of available organs for those who require the procedure. This means that therapeutic cloning has the potential to dramatically reduce the wait times for organ transplants as well as the immunological concerns associated with organ transplant therapy. In addition, the procedure would allow for scientists to create stem cell therapies that are patient specific and perfectly matched for the patient's medical condition.

One problem with therapeutic cloning is that many attempts are often required to create a viable egg. The stability of the egg with the infused somatic nucleus is poor and it can require hundreds of attempts before success is attained. Therapeutic cloning does result in the destruction of an embryo after stem cells are extracted and this destruction has stirred controversy over the morality of the procedure. Some argue that the pros outweigh the cons with regards to treating disease whilst others have likened the destruction to an abortion. Others state that this doesn't change the fact the embryo could potentially be a human being and so destruction of the embryo is no different than destruction of a human life.

Because reproductive cloning does utilise SCNT as the primary step, there is also still fear that given our knowledge base to perform reproductive cloning, a scientist may attempt to move beyond therapeutic cloning to creation of a human being. To this date, no human being has been successfully cloned but the possibility of this occurring is a frightening one not only for the general public and policy makers, but also for most of the ethical scientific field.