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> Subject: ARTICLE: New stem cell experiment ignites ethical controversy > From: Murray Charters <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 03:48:28 -0700 New stem cell experiment ignites ethical controversy BY AARON ZITNER Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON -- Inflaming the already heated debate over stem cell research, a team of Virginia fertility researchers will report today that they created human embryos for the specific purpose of disassembling them to obtain the valuable stem cells inside. The experiment, which was legal and used no federal funds, throws a spotlight on one of the murkiest areas of medical research -- the creation of human embryos for laboratory experiments -- at an unusually sensitive moment. Within weeks, President Bush is expected to announce whether the federal government will fund medical research using embryo stem cells, capping three years of contentious debate. Several experts said the report, from researchers at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Va., appeared to be the first published account of scientists producing embryos for the sole purpose of harvesting their stem cells. They said different teams had probably created embryos for other research purposes, but the practice is not widely discussed because of possible public backlash. The report appears in the July issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility. Embryonic stem cells can grow into any type of cell in the body, and scientists hope to guide the cells to become replacement tissue for patients -- new pancreas cells for diabetics, heart muscle for cardiac patients and brain cells for Parkinson's patients. But anti-abortion groups say the research is equivalent to murder because human embryos are destroyed in the process of obtaining stem cells. To date, scientists have obtained stem cells from embryos donated by fertility patients. More embryos than needed are often produced in the course of treatment. The government is also eyeing these "spare" fertility clinic embryos as a source of stem cells should Bush approve a funding plan. In lobbying the Bush administration, many scientists and research advocates have argued that it is more ethical to use these embryos in research than to have them discarded or frozen indefinitely, as patients usually decide to do. They have noted that under National Institutes of Health rules, no embryos would be created for the federally funded research. The Jones Institute researchers say they solicited eggs and sperm from paid donors and used them to create 110 fertilized eggs. Forty matured to the stage where stem cells usually develop, though the scientists successfully isolated and cultured cells from only three of them. While the researchers said their method had several ethical and scientific advantages, people on both sides of the stem cell debate criticized it. "This is really ghoulish," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion group. If Bush approves federal funding for research with "spare" embryos, Johnson said, then scientists, in time, will demand funding to create embryos for research. Some supporters of embryo cell research criticized the report as well, saying that it was clear from work with fertility clinic embryos that stem cells could be obtained from embryos created for research purposes. Alexander Capron, a professor of law and medicine at the University of Southern California, said: "It suggests that the scientists themselves don't see a reason to abstain from something that seems of marginal medical utility, and which is much more problematic ethically, and is therefore certain to inflame people" who oppose embryo cell research. Others said the new report showed that Bush should support federal funding, because it would bring much embryo research under federal ethics and public disclosure rules. SOURCE: PioneerPlanet / St. Paul (Minnesota) http://www.pioneerplanet.com/health/hea_docs/82943.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn