Cloned Human Embryos Seen Inevitable

"The past, present and future of stem cell research was the focus of a St. Louis news briefing on Friday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science — the very same forum where Hwang made such a splash in 2004."

Ethicists are gearing up for a new wave of social and political debate while stem cell researchers are getting over their deep disappointment concerning last year's scandal over faked cloning experiments in South Korea, and moving ahead with new discoveries.

Scientists on both sides of the debate said that it's likely just a matter of time before someone really does produce stem cells from cloned human embryos

"Probably over the next couple of years, this will be done," said Leonard Zon, a stem cell researcher at Children's Hospital in Boston. "I think the individual steps are solvable."

Some of the speakers at Friday's forum still felt stung by the affair — not only because they were misled, but because it turned out that Hwang's female subordinates were pressured to donate their own eggs. Northwestern University bioethicist Laurie Zoloth said anyone who played even an inadvertent role in Hwang's deception, including herself as well as the research community and even science journalists, should join in a mass apology...


Read all

Missouri - Stem Cell Debate Impacts GOP

Sen. Jim Talent, a Missouri Republican, who has co-sponsored a Senate bill to ban embryonic stem cell research and impose a million-dollar fine and 10-year jail sentence on violators, could have his re-election chances undermined by a split between social conservatives and moderate Republicans over embryonic stem cells research.

A coalition of business leaders and medical research institutions is gathering support for a Nov. 7 ballot initiative that would amend the Missouri constitution to safeguard stem cell research and treatments in the state.

The senator is facing a strong challenge in November from Democratic state auditor Claire McCaskill.

"If Talent comes out in favor of stem cell research, he loses support from the evangelicals," said Max Skidmore, professor of political science at University of Missouri-Kansas City. "If he opposes it, he'll lose support from the business community that otherwise might support him."

Read more at:
fortwayne.com
dfw.com

Call To Remove Stem Cell Laws

On Wednesday, a group of medical researchers and patient advocates called on the Legislature to remove Michigan’s limits on the development of stem cells.

The sponsor of legislation to modify the bans, Rep. Andrew Meisner, D-Ferndale, said that these laws, that prohibit the destruction of embryos and embryonic cloning, make the state the least hospitable in the country for stem cell research.

Meisner’s legislation was endorsed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in last week’s State of the State address. University of Michigan researcher Sean Morrison said Michigan "can’t be a leader" in medical research with the legal restrictions now in place... Opponents of Meisner’s legislation, including the Michigan Catholic Conference and Right to Life of Michigan, criticize research that results in the destruction of human embryos as morally troublesome... Bob Kullgren, of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said he finds the moral objections nonsensical because embryos used to develop stem cells, leftover from invitro fertilization procedures, will be destroyed anyway.

Read on