 |
 |
February 1, 12:44 pm Eastern Time Press Release SOURCE: Biotechnology Industry Organization BIO Urges Bush to Continue Moratorium on Cloning Human Beings WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Following recent announcements by certain groups of plans to clone human beings, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today sent a letter to President George W. Bush urging him to support continuation of the current voluntary moratorium on these experiments. Contact BIO for a copy of the letter. ``BIO was among the first to support a moratorium on cloning human beings in 1997 following announcement of the cloning of the sheep Dolly,'' said BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum. ``We supported the moratorium because the specific technology involved in cloning a human being was unsafe and because the prospect of cloning humans raises profound moral, religious and bioethical concerns. ``Today the technology to clone a human being still is not safe and the full range of moral and ethical concerns still has not been addressed. We believe the current moratorium on cloning humans should remain until our nation has had time to fully explore the impact of such cloning.'' Feldbaum stressed that BIO supports cloning of specific human cells, genes and other tissues that do not and cannot lead to a cloned human being. These techniques are integral to biotechnology research and to the production of breakthrough medicines, diagnostics and vaccines to treat heart attacks, various cancers, Alzheimer's, diabetes, hepatitis and other diseases. This type of cloning could also produce replacement skin, cartilage and bone tissue for burn and accident victims, and result in ways to regenerate retinal and spinal cord tissue. BIO represents more than 940 biotechnology companies, academic institutions and state biotech centers in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health- care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. [log in to unmask]