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To Clone or Not To clone or not to clone a human. That is the wrong question. Rather, two questions should be asked. Should researchers be allowed to implant a cloned human embryo in a woman's uterus to produce a baby? The answer is an unequivocal no. There is virtual scientific and political consensus that, given the limits of current knowledge, cloning for the purpose of human reproduction should be outlawed in the United States. The second question: Should researchers be allowed to clone human embryos to produce stem cells for medical research? The answer is yes, but only within strict rules. Orrin Hatch is sponsoring a bill in the U.S. Senate that asks the right questions and provides the right answers. It would outlaw reproductive cloning but allow, with tight controls, cloning for stem- cell research (so-called therapeutic cloning). The House, by contrast, has passed a bill that bans all human cloning, both for the purpose of reproduction and for stem-cell research. That bill is the wrong answer. In the cloning process, which also is called nuclear transplantation, the nucleus of an egg cell is removed and replaced with the nucleus taken from an adult cell. The egg is then stimulated to begin dividing. If the resulting embryo were then implanted in a woman's womb, a cloned human baby could be produced, at least in theory. But two expert committees of the National Academy of Sciences agree that with the knowledge now available, such experimentation is unsafe and unethical. Similar experiments in other mammals often result in defects and miscarriages. Besides, the process could be used for a host of reasons that create profound moral questions. For example, should geniuses be cloned to produce more geniuses? How about athletes or warriors or beautiful people? Should parents be allowed to clone a child who has died prematurely? The Hatch bill answers these questions by banning reproductive cloning. But cloning also can be used to produce embryos from which stem cells can be taken. Researchers believe that these cells may be directed to produce any of the many other specialized cells in the body. This holds the possibility not only of generating replacement tissues or organs but also overcoming the rejection that often occurs with transplants. Therapies involving stem cells someday may cure many diseases. The Hatch bill would allow cloning to produce embryos as sources of stem cells for research, but only under limited conditions. For example, the embryos would be allowed to grow for no more than 14 days after cell division begins. Reproduction? No. Therapy? Yes. Those are the right answers to the right questions. SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Mar/03282003/opinion/42549.asp * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn