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Three cheers for Mr. Orwin Hatch. I am happy to see that there are some people wiht some commonsense and compassion. The word "Cloning" has somehow gained a taboo now adays. The minute you say the word "cloning" people think of cloning an individual. That is absolutely wrong. Cloning has been around for almost half a century in the tissue culture world. "Cloning" simply means taking one cell and multiply that by culturing in vitro to get large number of the same type of cell, which can be useful for further studies. Raj [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda J Herman" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 8:52 AM Subject: Re: Cloning and the U.S. Government > Another good source for current scientific and political news -updated > daily- on stem cell and SCNT research, can be found on "Stem Cell > Research News" web site: > http://www.stemcellresearchnews.com/ > > Republican Senator Orrin Hatch's views appear in the excerpt below : > > from: The Washington Times > Congress grapples over cloning issues > by Steve Mitchell > UPI Medical Correspondent > January 29, 2003 > > "WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Following President George W. Bush's > renewed call for a ban on human cloning, senators and members of Congress > debated the ethical and medical implications of the issue at a Senate > hearing Wednesday. > Republicans generally favored banning the technology completely, > while a bipartisan group urged that it be permitted only for the purpose > of producing cells potentially to treat diseases. > Most reputable scientists favor banning reproductive cloning but > want to allow therapeutic cloning -- using the technology to produce > embryonic stem cells or tissues -- because they think it has the > potential to treat currently incurable diseases such as Parkinson's and > diabetes, as well as paralysis. ... > The Republicans were led by Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, who argued > that all forms of cloning should be banned because of moral and ethical > concerns. > Brownback introduced legislation in the Senate Wednesday to ban all > human cloning. Under the bill, anyone attempting to clone a human being > would face criminal penalties on the order of 10 years in jail and $1 > million in fines... > > Despite Brownback's assertions that most Americans oppose cloning, a > bipartisan group of senators -- including some right-to-life Republicans > -- spoke out in favor of allowing therapeutic cloning. > "I am here today to speak to the subcommittee about how to stop the > offensive practice of human reproductive cloning while at the same time, > allowing vital biomedical research to go forward under moral and ethical > guidelines and protections," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a > self-described right-to-lifer. > "A critical feature of being pro-life in my opinion is helping the > living," Hatch said. "Helping those millions of American families > struggling with the challenges of debilitating diseases is exactly what > stem cell research ... from (therapeutic cloning) promises," he said. > Hatch, along with several other senators, plans to introduce > alternative legislation next week to ban reproductive cloning but allow > therapeutic cloning. Last year, the House passed legislation that would > ban all cloning, but the Senate failed to pass a matching measure because > some senators favored allowing therapeutic cloning. > "Failure to enact legislation that sanctions (therapeutic cloning) > research accompanied by stringent ethical safeguards undermines America's > role as a leader in biomedical research," Hatch said. It "may result in > the potentially revolutionary fruits of this research -- as well as some > of our leading researchers -- in moving offshore and away from the > American public." > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > 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