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This is a severely edited version. The complete article can be found at: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/980208/dc_bio_clo_1.html Sunday February 8 Dan Eramian, a vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BI0) has issued a press release warning that a U.S. bill to ban the cloning of humans is worded in such a way that it could prohibit much research not related to human cloning. The Senate takes its first vote on S. 1601, Tuesday, Feb. 1O. "To ensure that customized stem cell research is not banned by the bill, it must be substantially revised," he says. "One approach would be to include a broad exemption for biomedical research on stem cells and other technology to treat patients." Eramian says scientists are developing an entirely new approach for treating human diseases that depends not on drugs but on living cells that can differentiate into blood, skin, heart, or brain cells and potentially treat cancers, spinal cord injuries, or heart disease. This research -- called stem cell research -- holds the potential to develop and improve cancer treatments. Stem cell therapy could give health care providers a virtually endless supply of: * cardiac muscle cells to treat heart attack victims and degenerative heart disease; * skin cells to treat burn victims; * spinal cord neuron cells for treatment of spinal cord trauma and paralysis; * neural cells for treating those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases; * pancreas cells to treat diabetes; * blood cells to treat cancer anemia and immunodeficiencies; * neural cells to treat Parkinson's, Huntington's and ALS; * cells for use in genetic therapy to treat 5,000 genetic diseases, including Cystic Fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, schizophrenia and depression; * blood vessel endothelial cells for treating atherosclerosis; * liver cells for liver diseases including hepatitis and cirrhosis; * cartilage cells for treatment of osteoarthritis; * bone cells for treatment of osteoporosis; * myoblast cells for the treatment of Muscular Dystrophy; * respiratory epithelial cells for the treatment of Cystic Fibrosis and lung cancer; * adrenal cortex cells for the treatment of Addison's disease; * retinal pigment epithelial cells for age-related macular degeneration; * modified cells for treatment of various genetic diseases. CONTACT: Dan Eramian, Vice President, Communications of BIO, 202-857-0244. Alan Richards, [log in to unmask]