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The source of this article is Mercury News: http://tinyurl.com/6ndyv Posted on Tue, Oct. 26, 2004 Bush using U.N. to block stem-cell lines By Philip Pizzo Last week, the United Nations began deliberating a worldwide treaty proposed by Costa Rica to ban reproductive cloning. But, with the support of the Bush administration, the ban would also include somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a technique used to create new stem-cell lines needed for medical research. First, let me state unequivocally, human reproductive cloning should be made illegal. However, laws to ban human reproductive cloning should not also prevent nuclear transfer and the development of new stem-cell lines that could help improve our knowledge of a broad array of human diseases including cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders, among many others. Ironically, Californians will vote next Tuesday on Proposition 71, which would provide $3 billion over the next decade to fund the development of new treatments for devastating diseases using the very technique that would be forbidden under the U.N. resolution. By backing the U.N. resolution, the Bush administration is attempting to circumvent our nation's own legislative process and is ignoring the right of states to support research that could benefit their citizens. By going to the United Nations, the Bush administration turns to a world body to pave an ideological path that lacks consensus within the United States. Indeed, a bill to prevent nuclear transfer has not passed Congress because of a lack of support. With Washington at a deadlock, states have taken up the issue on their own. Some, including California and New Jersey, have passed legislation allowing funding for embryonic-stem-cell research, and California will vote on Proposition 71, now supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even U.N. representative John Danforth has railed against proposals such as the U.N. initiative in the past, saying: ``Banning human cloning is one thing. Banning research into the cause and prevention of disease is quite another.'' While the Bush administration is backing the more restrictive ban proposed by Costa Rica, a second resolution introduced by South Korea and Belgium would support a treaty banning reproductive cloning but allowing member nations to come to independent decisions about whether to support the creation of new stem-cell lines. This resolution would appropriately prevent human reproductive cloning but permit nations the right to reach internal consensus about the ethical, medical and legal implications of embryonic-stem-cell research. We have at our fingertips a resource -- stem-cell research -- that offers great promise for understanding and treating a number of serious disorders. Its potential to cure even one disease, diabetes, for example, would transform the future for thousands of children. Although some stem cells do exist and can be funded within the United States, these cells don't represent the genetic diversity of people in our own nation or the specific disease states that need to be studied. Moreover, because of the way the cells have been maintained, they could be contaminated with a mouse virus and cannot be used in human therapies. Last week, the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, a coalition of 125 domestic and international patient groups, scientific societies and academic institutions, presented an open letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the General Assembly urging U.N. decision-makers to reject the resolution to ban SCNT. In so doing, these organizations are supporting medical research that could be lifesaving and life-giving. I would hope that as Americans we are permitted to have the public debate about stem-cell research to continue and empower citizens to choose the path they deem best for themselves and their families. Seeking to circumvent that choice is counter to the democracy that we so dearly value and celebrate as a nation. PHILIP PIZZO is the dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine and professor of pediatrics and of microbiology and immunology. He wrote this article for the Mercury News. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn