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KOREA: Human Rights Commission Sets Up Task Force Team for Therapeutic Cloning Research Wednesday, February 18, 2004 On the heels of Korean researchers' breakthrough in cloning human embryos and extracting stem cells from them for the first time is sparking debate both at home and abroad on the ethics of human cloning. To address these concerns, a special team of experts here in Korea will be given the task of setting up specific boundaries for therapeutic cloning. The international scientific community marked a landmark achievement last week when Korean scientists announced they had succeeded in extracting stem cells from cloned human embryos. The scientists say their goal is to advance stem cell research to treat incurable diseases like Parkinson's and diabetes and not human reproductive cloning. But despite their assurances the latest scientific feat is being criticized by religious and civic groups as unethical. "We believe human embryonic cloning will eventually lead to human cloning. Scientists are now stressing that the significant breakthrough will be used to treat incurable illnesses but we can't rule out the possibility the Korean researchers will conduct further experiments with this latest technology they have."said Father Lee Chang-young with Catholic Confederation of Korea. In order to rule out the possibility of any covert human reproductive cloning, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced on Monday it has set up an eight-member special task force team to deal exclusively with the issue. The team made up of civic leaders and experts will conduct comprehensive studies on the ramifications of stem cell research to draw up measures and policies setting the boundaries for what's known as "therapeutic cloning." Korea already has laws in place banning human cloning. Officials at the NHRC say they plan to draw up general guidelines on therapeutic cloning and life ethics by the end of October based on public opinion while taking into account similar cases involving both domestic and international research." Considering the fact that it took the research team only about a year to achieve this scientific breakthrough, authorities seem to have realized they have no time to waste if they are to have sound policies governing what could be a vast new medical field in the future. SOURCE: Arirang TV / Chosun Ilbo, South Korea http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200402/200402180002.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn