 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Support urged for human embryo stem cell research
Thursday, December 03, 1998 By Judy Packer-Tursman, Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON - Pointing to progress made in cell therapy for major diseases, several scientists and an ethicist urged Congress yesterday to support federal funding for research involving "stem cells" taken from human embryos.
At the hearing held by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., federal officials, researchers, biotechnology company executives and ethicists debated for two hours whether it is fitting to loosen the ban on human embryo research and provide federal dollars for work that Specter said shows enormous therapeutic potential for people with Parkinson's disease, stroke and other ailments. Most witnesses said yes, but a representative from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops gave a resounding no. Specter stayed neutral, while the panel's ranking Democrat urged public support.
In opening remarks, Specter said recent scientific developments "warrant a closer analysis" of legislation that was sent out of his Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human services and education last year, limiting use of federal dollars for research on human embryos. He said there is arguably an inconsistency when federal money may be used for research on fetal tissue but not on human embryos.
Specter also noted that, contrary to rumors on Capitol Hill, he is not stepping down as the panel's chairman.
Meanwhile, 52 patient advocacy and medical specialty groups sent a letter to Congress yesterday reiterating their support for human stem-cell research, which they said "holds great promise to treat and cure devastating diseases."
Scientists hope that human embryonic stem cells - which have the ability to form virtually any tissue or organ in the body and to reproduce indefinitely in a laboratory setting - soon could be grown into specified cell lines for transplantation into ill people. This might allow replication of cells for insulin production to treat diabetes or regeneration of heart tissue to treat congestive heart failure or development of neurons to treat Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and stroke. It also might allow development of human cell lines to better screen and test drugs.
National Institutes of Health Director Harold Varmus testified that he believes that within the next decade or two, "many diseases would be treated, if not cured, by the cell therapies we're talking about," were federal dollars available for the effort.
Four years ago, President Clinton issued a ban on use of federal money to create human embryos solely for research purposes, and Congress later broadened the prohibition to include any embryo research in the public sector.
Two weeks ago, Clinton told the National Bioethics Advisory Commission that he was "deeply troubled" by recent reports of the fusion of a human cell with a cow egg. Clinton said that when he issued the ban, the benefits of human stem cell research were hypothetical while ethical concerns were immediate. Now that the work "may have real [therapeutic] potential," he asked the panel for a thorough review of ethical and medical issues. A report is expected next spring.
Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, the panel's ranking Democrat, said at yesterday's hearing that stem cells "do not have the capacity to become a human being," and therefore he believes that they aren't included in the federal ban. He called it "morally wrong" to prevent embryonic stem cell research as long as it is "conducted in an ethical manner."
Harkin, along with most hearing witnesses, insisted that the potential benefits of embryonic stem-cell research could be delayed or denied to patients absent a partnership between the private sector and the federal government. Harkin, who has worked with Specter to increase NIH funding by $2 billion this year, said NIH support is crucial because the private sector underfunds early basic research that doesn't get products to market quickly enough.
Ethicist Arthur Caplan, who directs the University of Pennsylvania Health System's Center for Bioethics, testified that he believes that public dollars are needed to keep the research public and accountable, rather than private and commercial.
Richard M. Doerflinger, a representative of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, countered that Congress is making a moral decision when it decides where to spend taxpayers' money. He said any federal guidelines would not be sufficient to prevent abuses, and he described stem-cell experiments as "ripping out cells of what was a living organism."
Much of the testimony centered on research efforts. A Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professor described using human embryonic stem cells since 1993 to figure out how abnormalities arise and design therapies for Down's syndrome. He said researchers, using embryos "specifically made for clinical purposes," have followed federal, state and institutional guidelines.
A Wisconsin researcher said his team has derived five human cell lines, using in vitro fertilized embryos less than a week old, before implantation in the womb and formation of any fetal structures.
Explaining the research at the heart of Clinton's concerns, Michael D. West, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., said his company conducted preliminary research on "therapeutic cloning" from 1996 until Clinton's March 1997 request for a moratorium on human cloning. He said the technologies are not designed or intended to clone human beings; they are trying to fuse a human skin cell with a cow egg cell stripped of its DNA to create therapeutic blood, muscle and nerve cells that are compatible with a human patient.
|
||||||||
