South Korea - Hwang Downplays Stem Cell Ethics Debate

Seoul National University scientist Hwang Woo-suk said he expects significant progress in the study of human stem cells over the next few years, downplaying the intensifying ethical arguments over the issue.

"My belief is that the world will not see a cloned human being for at least a century from now," said Hwang at a news conference in Seoul two days ago.

Hwang was asked to respond to academics and religious figures- which released an official statement Monday condemning embryonic stem-cell research and all forms of human tissue cloning- who have called for tight restrictions on stem-cell research.

"Bioengineering, like any other subject in science technology, has the possibility to be interpreted and used in different ways. If not, it wouldn't be worth studying," Hwang said.

Hwang also expressed skepticism to the notion that research on adult stem cells could produce equal medical benefits to cloned embryonic stem cells.

"The potential benefits of research on adult stem cells are enormous but embryonic stem cells have properties that cannot be replaced. If we limit our studies to just one of the subjects, we could only go half-way"...

Read more

Battling Hodgkin's Disease, Sen. Specter Says He's Exhibit a for Stem Cell Research

WASHINGTON Jun 2, 2005 — Sen. Arlen Specter, newly bald from chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's disease, held himself up on Wednesday as Exhibit A for the possible benefits of embryonic stem cell research.

A day after the House voted to overturn President Bush's prohibition on federal funding for research using cells from human embryos fertilized after 2001, Specter said similar action by the Senate would give hope to himself and others with Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and cancer.

The Pennsylvania Republican called Bush's promise to veto any relaxation of his restrictions on funding stem cell research an affront to millions of people with diseases that might be treated or even cured with federal dollars propelling the science.

"I look in the mirror every day, barely recognize myself," he said. "And not to have the availability of the best of medical care is simply atrocious."

Read on

The two faces of the stem-cell debate: Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum

WASHINGTON -- In the years they have served together, Sen. Arlen Specter, one of the Senate's leading moderates, and Sen. Rick Santorum, one of the body's leading conservatives, have found themselves on the opposite sides of a number of substantive issues.

But this year, as the thorny issue of federal financing for embryonic stem cell research winds its way back to the forefront in Congress, Pennsylvania's two senators are again sliding into the role of legislative adversaries -- this time on an issue of intense personal importance to both of them.

Specter has reintroduced legislation with a formidable bipartisan group of colleagues that would expand government funding for embryonic stem cell research far beyond the narrow limits that President Bush set in 2001. The bill would allow federal money to be spent for research on frozen embryos created through fertility treatments at in vitro clinics, as long as the embryos were going to be discarded and the couple agreed to donate them.

For five years Specter's initiative on stem cell research has languished in Congress. But his effort gained new momentum this past week when the Republican-dominated House passed an identical measure, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, with a 44-vote margin -- a feat that seemed virtually impossible several years ago.[...]

Santorum said in an interview that the legislation Specter has proposed amounts to "the wholesale destruction of human life paid for by the federal government."

He went on to say "We're certainly have a fight about this [in Congress]," and flatly predicted "The bill is not going to become law."

"The president is going to veto it; the House is will sustain [the veto]. So do we want to spend weeks or days or long time in a very tight Senate agenda to deal with a bill that is never going to become law? I would say no."

There is little, if any, middle ground between Santorum and Specter in their ideological arguments in the embryonic stem cell debate.

Some anti-abortion rights lawmakers, including Specter's Republican co-sponsors Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, support embryonic stem cell research because they believe life begins when an embryo is implanted in a woman's womb.

But Santorum believes that life begins at conception -- when a woman's egg is fertilized and becomes a unique organism. Santorum takes a harder line than Bush and opposed the president's decision in 2001 to he allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research on what was then believed to be more than 60 existing embryonic stem cell lines...


Read on