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Sounds promising - i'd like to read more about what the researchers who work with stem cells think about these proposed techniques. Another good article on this topic was in the Boston Globe (Nov. 21) is posted on the CAMR website http://www.camradvocacy.org/fastaction/news.asp?id=1210 It discusses the new therapeutic cloning technique called -altered nuclear transfer - in some detail. Does anyone know more about this? Linda ------------------------------------------ FROM: Washington Post Proposed techniques may ease stem-cell research issues By DAVID BROWN, Washington Post First published: Saturday, December 4, 2004 WASHINGTON -- The panel of experts that advises President Bush on bioethical issues heard descriptions Friday of two new laboratory techniques that may give scientists a way to get large numbers of medically promising stem cells without either creating or killing human embryos. Advertisement "If this pans out scientifically, it will be a major step forward. It may provide an opportunity to get through the political impasse," said Leon Kass, the physician who heads the President's Council on Bioethics. In one technique, scientists would harvest viable cells from embryos created to treat infertility that have stopped developing and are functionally dead. Taking the cells -- which can grow into stem cells -- would be analogous to removing organs of brain-dead accident victims for transplantation. In the second technique, scientists would intentionally sabotage a cloning process called "nuclear transfer" so the resulting bundle of cells is not an embryo but still has stem-cell precursors. They could then be removed and used. The purported advantage of both techniques is that neither involves an embryo with the potential for future growth. In the first, the embryo has already died; in the second, it never existed. Conventional methods for obtaining stem cells involve the destruction of a viable embryo, which opponents consider unethical. Both strategies have been under development for at least two years by researchers in several labs but only recently became widely known. They would need more refinement in animals before they could be tried with human cells. Kass said the ideas raise the possibility that "the partisans of scientific progress and the defenders of the dignity of nascent human life can go forward in partnership without anyone having to violate things they hold dear." Stem cells are cells with the capacity to develop into many different types of tissue, and theoretically even whole organs. Many biologists believe they could yield therapies for diseases in which a person's organs or tissues fail. The U.S. government funds embryonic stem cell research only on embryos created before 9 p.m. August 9, 2001. Twenty-two colonies of stem cells, called "lines," fitting that restriction are available for use. Nongovernment funding -- by universities, charities, or private donors -- can pay for research on other cell lines, but some scientists argue that lack of federal funds is slowing research. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn