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About News24 Science and Nature 22/06/2001 12:03 - (SA) Bush backs ban on cloning Washington - President George W Bush's administration is backing a bill before Congress banning any form of human cloning, including "therapeutic cloning" used in embryonic stem cell research. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Bush "oppose any and all attempts to clone a human being," Deputy Secretary of Health Claude Allen told a congressional hearing on Wednesday. "We oppose the use of human somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning techniques either to assist human reproduction or to develop cell- or tissue-based therapies," Allen said. The congressional testimony marked the first time the new Republican administration has made its position on the controversial topic clearly known. In 1997 the administration of former president Bill Clinton declared a five-year moratorium on experiments in human cloning funded with public money. But to date there exists no federal law barring private financing of such research. An international consortium led by Italian gynaecologist Severino Antinori, French scientist Brigitte Boisselier and US doctor Richard Seed has announced plans to clone a human being. A fierce debate has ensued in the United States, with religious groups and conservatives calling for an outright ban on moral grounds, and scientists pressing the administration to authorise federal financing for public research on therapeutic cloning. The term refers to reproduction of undifferentiated stem cells from embryos, seen as very promising by researchers because they can develop into a variety of specialised cells - blood, muscles, neurons - and could one day be used to repair or replace organs or to treat diseases that are incurable at present. US lawmakers currently have two bills on human cloning before them. The first, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act introduced by Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and Florida Representative Dave Weldon, would criminalise any attempt to create a human embryo through cloning, whether for reproductive or therapeutic ends. The bill calls for sentences up to ten years in jail and a one million dollar fine for infractions. "We support this bill's intent of banning human cloning," Allen said. A second bill, the Cloning Prohibition Act introduced by Representative James Greenwood of Pennsylvania, is less restrictive. It bans only reproductive human cloning - using cloned cells to start a pregnancy. The Greenwood bill thus leaves the door open to cloning human embryos for medical reasons - which Allen called "a major concern of this administration." But Bush favours stem cell research using adult tissue. In a recent letter to an anti-abortion group Bush wrote: "I oppose federal funding for stem cell research that involves destroying living human embryos. I support innovative medical research on life-threatening and debilitating diseases, including promising research on stem cells from adult tissue." http://news.24.com/News24/Technology/Science_Nature/0,1113,2-13-46_1042316,00.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn