Split On Clones...research Vs. Repro...

[cute_ooky 0]

Split on Clones: Research vs. Reproduction

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and DENISE GRADY

Published: February 13, 2004

The news that South Korean researchers have become the first to produce human embryos and stem cells through cloning has revived a complex debate about whether such research should be permitted in the United States.

Many, if not most, scientists support cloning to make embryonic stem cells. Those cells are prized for research because of their potential to become almost any type of tissue, perhaps one day to be used to treat illnesses or injuries.

At the same time, scientists are nearly unanimous in denouncing so-called reproductive cloning, to create babies.

Religious groups also oppose reproductive cloning. They split on therapeutic or research cloning for stem cells.

In reproductive cloning, which has been performed with animals but not people, the embryos are implanted in the womb and develop into a fetus. In therapeutic cloning, the embryos are never implanted, but are grown for a few days in the laboratory so that the stem cells can be extracted.

A scientific group, the International Society for Stem Cell Research of Northbrook, Ill., called yesterday for "a complete ban on using stem cell technology to clone humans," but strongly supported cloning experiments to derive stem cells.

Reproductive cloning would be unethical, the president of the group, Dr. Leonard I. Zon, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard, said, because too many cloned animals have been unhealthy with problems like arthritis and obesity.

Dr. Zon said he doubted that any serious researcher would even try to clone an entire human being.

"You never know about outliers," he said. "But all responsible scientists and doctors would not do this."

Dr. Lee M. Silver, a geneticist who is a professor of molecular biology at Princeton, agreed that few researchers would want to duplicate people.

"We know that the recipe for creating cloned embryos could in theory be used by somebody for reproductive purposes," Dr. Silver said. "I think it is going to happen. I'm not saying it's good, but I think it's going to happen."

Dr. Donald Kennedy, editor of Science, the journal that published the South Koreans' study, predicted that other scientists would not find it easy to reproduce the meticulous work.

"It is a recipe only in that catching a turtle is a recipe for turtle soup," Dr. Kennedy said.

The United States has no federal law against cloning. The House voted last year to outlaw all forms of human cloning. Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, introduced a version of that bill in the Senate. A rival bill to ban just reproductive cloning was also introduced. Neither went to a vote.

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Mr. Brownback said his ban had "passed through the House, passed and has been enacted in law in a number of states, and it needs to pass through the Senate."

"What is this youngest of human beings?" Mr. Brownback asked. "Is it property or is it a person? We really have to get that debate out there and going."

Religious groups and individuals come down on both sides. Roman Catholics, evangelicals and many mainline Protestant churches oppose cloning for a variety of reasons. Ethicists note that some Christian churches and most Jewish groups back therapeutic cloning.

"This research is always going to raise a hue and cry for people who feel that the embryo is the moral equivalent of an adult human life," said Suzanne Holland, chairwoman of the religion department at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. "They did everything wonderfully right in terms of the protocols they used. They stopped short of implantation. They had no intention of using it as a reproductive technology. The women gave their informed consent and were told it was for research."

Carrie Gordon Earll, bioethics analyst for Focus on the Family, a conservative ministry in Colorado Springs, called the research "nothing short of cannibalism."

"We don't sacrifice one human life in order to possibly help another human life," Ms. Earll said. "This really is discrimination against the most vulnerable human being."

A Christian group in Chicago, the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, said the Koreans had produced "human embryos for the explicit purpose of fatally mining them."

Catholic officials also said the new study would intensify the church's efforts to press for a ban.

Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, "If scientists will not voluntarily turn away from this abuse of science, a national and worldwide effort to ban human cloning is more urgently needed than ever."

The United Methodist Church, a large mainline Protestant denomination, opposes any cloning of human embryos, said Jay Dee Hanson, bioethics consultant for the church. The church, Mr. Hanson added, would urge Congress and the United Nations to proceed with cloning bans.

Jewish bioethics experts said most Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbis accepted cloning research for therapeutic purposes. "This is an area in which there is surprising unanimity in the Jewish community, because of the strong moral imperative to heal," said Laurie Zoloth, a professor of medical ethics and religion at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

The eerie possibilities of cloning have captured filmmakers' imaginations. "Godsend," to be released in April by Lions Gate Films, will feature Robert De Niro as a cloning expert who, for grief-stricken parents, recreates a child who has died. Things go well, up to a point.

"It's a Hollywood thriller and a bit of a horror story," Jeremy Walker, a publicity agent, said. "The science is a little fuzzy."

John Files contributed reporting from Washington for this article and Cornelia Dean from Seattle.

[fati 0]

hmm ... cloning.. seems to b an interesting part of biological science.. well.. cant say whether its ethical or not.. what do our religious philosphers say about this?

[cute_ooky 0]

fatima: Our religion doesn't allow cloning.. it's totally unethical and also inappropraite.. HOw? It's like playing God.. because what these scientists are doing is that they r trynna make humans!!! I mean how retarded is that. Waise I dun think it's gunna every happen because Allah is the creator. Only he can make and create humans..

and researchers have sed it themselves that it's not healthy to clone species because the new cloned species have lots of diseases and problems and it's extremely hard for them to live a perfect healthy life and/or survive!!!

[fati 0]

well yeah thats true....

hey btw is the the new clone perfectly like a human. i mean he can think like others.. if so then this clonning thing is aching.