ALLAN, I asked the same thing when I heard the house debate and got this response fro PAN- I think we are OK. Charlie Subject: Labor/HHS bill Date: Sat, 08 Nov 1997 18:37:16 -0500 From: "Monica A. Bowman" <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Mr. Meyer, The FY98 Labor/Health/Education conference report did indeed include a ban on human embryo research. Human embryo research involves, among other things, the cultivation and manipulation of human embryos--in various stages of very early development--in a laboratory environment. In part, researchers investigate cell development, division, specialization and so on. It can involve artificial fertalization and the manipulation of multiple embryos. I'm not a scientist, so I'm giving you a very general answer. What I know as a politician is that human embryo and fetal tissue research are very distinct types of research--and that human embryo research is far more contentious. FYI--the Senate passed the FY98 Labor/Health/Education conference report Saturday afternoon by a vote of 91-4. It's a great day for the Parkinson's community! If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact me either by email or by phone at (800) 850-4726. Sincerely, Michael Claeys Community Outreach Coordinator Allan Rosenberg wrote: > > Many on the net understand that one of the few research paths that might lead > to a cure for PD is the transplant of fetal tissue into the brain in an > attempt to regenerate the brain's ability to produce dopamine on its own. > According to the NY Times, the bill funding Labor, Health and Human Services > contains a provision which "continues a prohibition on the use of human > embryos in Federally financed research." No one can fault those who did so > much work to get that extra funding for PD research but to prohibit a > promising avenue is certainly a disappointment. Unless, of course, fetal > tissue is not considered "human embryos". > > [log in to unmask] -- CHARLES T. MEYER, M.D. Middleton, WI [log in to unmask]