ALLAN,

I asked the same thing when I heard the house debate and got this
response fro PAN-  I think we are OK.
Charlie

Subject:
           Labor/HHS bill
    Date:
           Sat, 08 Nov 1997 18:37:16 -0500
    From:
           "Monica A. Bowman" <[log in to unmask]>
       To:
           [log in to unmask]




Mr. Meyer,

The FY98 Labor/Health/Education conference report did indeed include a
ban on human embryo research.  Human embryo research involves, among
other things, the cultivation and manipulation of human embryos--in
various stages of very early development--in a laboratory environment.
In part, researchers investigate cell development, division,
specialization and so on.  It can involve artificial fertalization and
the manipulation of multiple embryos.

I'm not a scientist, so I'm giving you a very general answer.  What I
know as a politician is that human embryo and fetal tissue research are
very distinct types of research--and that human embryo research is far
more contentious.

FYI--the Senate passed the FY98 Labor/Health/Education conference report
Saturday afternoon by a vote of 91-4.

It's a great day for the Parkinson's community!

If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact
me either by email or by phone at (800) 850-4726.

Sincerely,

Michael Claeys
Community Outreach Coordinator




Allan Rosenberg wrote:
>
> Many on the net understand that one of the few research paths that might lead
> to a cure for PD is the transplant of fetal tissue into the brain in an
> attempt to regenerate the brain's ability to produce dopamine on its own.
>  According to the NY Times, the bill funding Labor, Health and Human Services
> contains a provision which "continues a prohibition on the use of human
> embryos in Federally financed research." No one can fault those who did so
> much work to get that extra funding for PD research but to prohibit a
> promising avenue is certainly a disappointment. Unless, of course, fetal
> tissue is not considered "human embryos".
>
> [log in to unmask]

--

CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D.
Middleton, WI
[log in to unmask]