Final federal stem cell rules welcomed by public interest group

Center for Genetics and Society applauds expansion of funding; exclusion of cloning techniques

This statement can be attributed to Marcy Darnovsky, PhD, Associate Executive Director.

The Obama Administration and the National Institutes of Health have made the right call by expanding the funds available for responsible embryonic stem cell research, while excluding federal support for stem cell lines derived using cloning techniques.

Cloning-based stem cell research requires large numbers of women’s eggs, and extracting them poses significant risks. Now that scientists have shown they can produce disease-specific stem cell lines – the goal of cloning techniques – using cell reprogramming methods, there’s even less justification for risking women’s health to extract their eggs.

Unfortunately, New York State’s stem cell program has recently departed from the international consensus against recruiting women to provide eggs for cloning-based stem cell research by approving payments up to $10,000. Such payments pose "undue inducements" for young women to undergo a risky procedure for a failed line of research.

Furthermore, cloning-based stem cell research lays the technical groundwork for human reproductive cloning.  Dozens of other countries have already prohibited it, and the President called it `dangerous and profoundly wrong’ in his March remarks on stem cell research. It’s time for the U.S. to join the international consensus and formally prohibit reproductive cloning.

The Center for Genetics and Society has prepared a stem cell backgrounder [PDF] with brief answers to frequently asked questions about the science of stem cell research and the federal policies that apply to it.The Center is a non-profit public affairs and policy advocacy organization working to encourage responsible uses and effective societal governance of human genetic and reproductive biotechnologies.

Contact:
Marcy Darnovsky
510-625-0819 x305
510-913-7714
mdarnovsky[AT]geneticsandsociety[DOT]org