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To: Lane3 who wrote (9741)	4/19/2002 7:20:19 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 21057

Post editorial on cloning. The Promise of Cloning Friday, April 19, 2002; Page A24 ANYONE WHO suffers from, or who has a friend or loved one who suffers from, Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's or from one of the terrible, wasting autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis -- which means almost everyone -- knows the toll these diseases take. The pain; the loss, sometimes tragically early, of human potential. Among the gifts that science promises, during this period of breathtaking innovation, are genetic therapies that may ease this suffering, even cure these diseases, enabling millions of people to live better, longer lives. The hope of these treatments is why we disagree with President Bush and those in Congress who would ban a promising -- albeit nascent -- technology in which cloning techniques are used to produce that miracle of modern therapy, the stem cell. This is not the same as cloning to replicate actual human beings, which should be banned, the sooner the better. This is something different. In "therapeutic" cloning, the DNA from an adult cell is injected into an unfertilized egg which has been stripped of its nucleus. The egg is shocked, basically, so that it begins to divide. In a few days it becomes a blastocyst, a tiny cluster of cells that have not yet taken on specific functions. From those, some cells are harvested, then grown into those amazingly flexible things called stem cells, which can develop into all sorts of healthy tissue. President Bush has called for a ban on this form of research as well as on cloning human beings. He asked the Senate to pass a bill, similar to one that passed the House, that could turn serious doctors and researchers into serious felons, imposing a criminal penalty of up to 10 years in jail and civil fines of at least $1 million, on anyone who uses cloning technology. In addition, the legislation would ban the importation of any cloned embryo or its product. Under this bill, if you had Parkinson's, not only would you be precluded from using cloning-derived stem cells to treat yourself here; if you went to Europe to do so, you could be arrested upon returning with the "product" in your body. Stem cells can be obtained from a variety of sources, it is true. Cloning research is just one among a number of pioneering techniques, and it may not turn out to be the most efficacious or valuable. Many scientists testify, though, that it is promising enough to pursue further. The great potential advantage of cloning-derived stem cells is their compatibility with the patient's immune system -- no fear of rejection. The patient produces the cure. Embryonic stem cell research is a morally difficult issue; it challenges anyone who has thought long and hard about when life truly begins -- and under what circumstances some prototypical life form may be ended -- to think again. We respect those who see this form of research as creating life to destroy life, and therefore unacceptable. But we don't think that is the right way to look at it. A blastocyst is not a fetus. It is not a pregnancy. To use cloned cells to save lives is not destroying human beings in the service of research. As science evolves, law will have to also. But for now the Senate bill is too broad and should be defeated; only cloning to make babies should be banned. Therapeutic cloning, and the promise it holds for people, should be allowed to proceed, with careful attention to where it goes. © 2002 The Washington Post Company