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I posted an article earlier that demonstrates the momentum and hysteria around the cloning debate. Not enough people realize what a fragile hold we have on our future and that a cure for PD may essentially be banned by our goverment. I was fortunate to have the following Op-Ed published in the San Jose Mercury News recently. I urge you to get the word out. If this document is helpful you have my permission to reprint or write your own and send it to your local newspaper. Call, write or email your representatives in Washington and your State representatives. Get educated. Attend the PAN forum. Talk to people. Now is the time and this is important. Thank you. (stepping off the soapbox, for now) -Lynn http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/3016752.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Mercury News/Opinion Posted on Sun, Apr. 07, 2002 Cloning research: It could save your life MY VIEW: By Lynn Fielder COMPETING human cloning bills will soon be debated and voted upon by the U.S. Senate. Many people do not realize that embroiled in this debate is not just futuristic reproductive cloning (producing babies genetically identical to one parent), but therapeutic cloning as well. Therapeutic cloning, which scientists call somatic cell nuclear transfer, produces stem cells, not people. The distinction is critical to the future of more than 100 million Americans who are battling incurable, life-threatening diseases. I am a 40-year-old woman, mother and now an activist. I have Parkinson's disease, and my future is at stake in that vote. People motivated by fear, ignorance or worse are attempting bury the health and hope of people like me by creating the false impression that many factions of society are opposed to this vital research. Support for therapeutic cloning is broad among those who understand it, because the promise that therapeutic cloning holds is almost beyond imagination. Curing neuro-degenerative diseases, spinal cord injuries and diabetes is just the beginning of the potential of somatic cell nuclear transfer. Somatic cell research, like recombinant DNA, is tremendously promising. In this process, scientists replace the nucleus of an unfertilized egg cell with material from the nucleus of a ``somatic cell'' (a skin, heart, nerve or any other non-germ cell). What results is cloned tissue, and doctors believe it would eliminate the rejection that often occurs with organ transplants. Stem cell research has been strongly endorsed by a high-level committee of the National Academy of Sciences, all major patient advocacy groups, Nobel Prize winners, and medical researchers. With full support and sufficient funding, scientists believe that stem cell research could usher in a new era of health within the next five to 10 years. Five years will be in time for me and perhaps millions of other people with debilitating diseases; 10 years will have a profound positive impact for many, but for me it will probably be too late. Sen. Sam Brownback has introduced a bill (S. 1899) that would not only ban reproductive cloning, but also therapeutic cloning and impose severe criminal and civil penalties on scientists who conduct somatic cell nuclear transfer research. On the other side are bills sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein (S. 1758) and Tom Harkin and Arlen Specter (S. 1893) that would ban reproductive cloning but allow somatic cell nuclear transfer research to proceed, with appropriate controls, to cure life-threatening diseases Supporters of the Brownback bill, the very familiar opponents to most forms of stem cell research, are employing their usual tactics. Using hyperbole and fear, they are promoting notions of renegade engineered human clones, created by genetic manipulators who are driven by eugenics and greed. The Brownback bill exemplifies the dangers of using fear of this new world to suppress and punish science. We can't undiscover cellular manipulation, we can't undo the splitting of the atom, we can't even get the toothpaste back in the tube. But how we thoughtfully manage our discoveries is the duty of a democratic society. It is also our responsibility to not discard the ``good science'' when faced with new discoveries. Many people are unaware of the extreme measures in the Brownback bill. Brownback seeks to institute a five-year moratorium on all ``cloning'' and goes so far as to legislate imprisonment of 10 years for someone such as myself if I were to travel abroad for somatic cell treatment for my Parkinson's disease. The irony of being potentially freed from the imprisonment of this disease but being thrown in prison by my government is almost too much to bear. Denying Americans legal access to effective medical therapies is inappropriate, immoral and inhumane. Please let us not further confuse this already complex issue or fail to speak up -- the stakes are too high and we are wasting precious time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lynn Fielder serves on the board of The Parkinson Alliance ( www.ParkinsonAlliance.net), and and is vice president of medical service for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in San Jose. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn