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Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research Supports Bush Call to Ban Reproductive Cloning But Opposes Ban on Therapeutic Cloning U.S.Newswire, 1/28/2003 21:59 Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In the President's State of the Union speech this evening, he called for a ban on all forms of human cloning, which would include both reproductive (which seeks to create babies), and therapeutic cloning, also called somatic cell nuclear transfer, (which seeks to produce stem cells to cure disease). The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) -- comprised of the nation's leading patient groups, universities, and scientific societies -- supports the President's call to ban reproductive cloning but opposes any efforts to ban therapeutic cloning. ''CAMR has repeatedly called on Congress to act quickly to pass a ban on human reproductive cloning and the majority of Americans also support this view. However, a ban on therapeutic cloning would not only dash the hopes of millions of Americans suffering from Parkinson's, diabetes, ALS, spinal cord injuries, cancer, and other insidious diseases, it does not represent the opinion of the majority of the American people, the National Academy of Sciences, and the nation's leading scientists and Nobel laureates'' said Michael Manganiello, president of CAMR. ''As a police officer, I worked to uphold the law and ensure that the rights of my fellow citizens were protected. I never thought I would someday have to fight for my own right to a cure,'' said Kris Gulden, who will testify tomorrow before the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Ms. Gulden was spinal cord injured in 1998 from a biking accident and is paralyzed from the chest down. ''Allowing research using therapeutic cloning to move forward is critically important to me and others like me. It's our right to have access to potentially life-saving treatments and I hope the U.S. Congress will enact laws to protect these rights and protect our hope,'' she added. Somatic cell nuclear transfer is about saving and improving lives. It is fundamentally different from human reproductive cloning; it produces stem cells, not babies. In somatic cell nuclear transfer, the nucleus of a donor's unfertilized egg is removed and replaced with the nucleus of a patient's own cells, like a skin, heart, or nerve cell. These types of cells are called somatic cells. The goal is to develop stem cells that will not be rejected or destroyed by the patient's immune system. No sperm is used in this procedure. The cells are not transplanted into a womb. The unfertilized egg cells are stored in a petri dish to become a source of stem cells that can be used to treat life-threatening medical conditions. Somatic cell nuclear transfer aims to treat or cure patients by creating tailor-made, genetically identical cells that their bodies won't reject. In other words, somatic cell nuclear transfer could allow patients with diseases and conditions like cancer, diabetes, ALS, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries and many more to be cured using their own DNA. The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR), is comprised of nationally-recognized patient organizations, universities, scientific societies, foundations, and individuals with life-threatening illnesses and disorders, advocating for the advancement of breakthrough research and technologies in regenerative medicine -- including stem cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer -- in order to cure disease and alleviate suffering. For more information on CAMR, visit the website: http://www.camradvocacy.org. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.445 / Virus Database: 250 - Release Date: 1/21/2003 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn