March 2003 3 as
possible. Contact information for your senators is easily found by entering your zip
code into the website, www.congress.org/
congressorg/home/. Larry Goldstein, Vice-Chair of the ASCB Public Policy Committee, points out that the success of your communication depends on your effectiveness in making the distinction between human cloning and SCNT, and in your providing tangible examples of how SCNT can lead to the prevention and treat- ment of human disease. The
National Academy of Sciences has a wonderful summary that may help you in drafting your letter. “Scientists hope that by
growing stem cells in laboratories they can
generate specific tissues, such as heart,
lung, or kidney tissue, which could then
help re- pair damaged and diseased organs
or pro- vide alternatives to organ
transplants. Many of the illnesses cited as
potential targets of stem cell therapy —
such as diabetes, heart disease, spinal
cord injury, and Parkinson’s disease — have
few or no treatment options, so millions of
Americans are looking for cures. The
ability to take tissue derived from stem cells and transplant it into the human body to restore lost function may be a long way off,
but some studies involving
animals have been
encouraging. For example, trans- planted embryonic stem cells from mice have restored some insulin regulation abil- ity in mice with diabetes, relieved symp- toms of Parkinson’s disease in rodents, and partially restored neural function in ani- mals with spinal cord injuries. “Whenever tissue transplantation takes place, there is a risk that the body’s immune
system will reject the new biological mate-
rial. So scientists are starting to
investigate whether a technique
called somatic cell nuclear transfer can be used to create stem cells that are a genetic match to a patient. This
practice, also known as ‘therapeutic
cloning,’ is done by removing the nucleus
of an egg cell, inserting genetic material
from the trans- plant recipient, and
triggering cell division. Research on this
and other approaches that may prevent
rejection should be actively pur- sued.
Since there is no intention of ever im- planting the resulting embryo to produce a child, this approach should not be confused with reproductive cloning.” In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that SCNT
technology could help over 100 million pa-
tients who suffer from cardiovas- cular disease (58 million), au- toimmune disease (30 million), diabetes (16 million), osteoporo- sis (10 million), cancer (8.2 mil- lion), Alzheimer’s disease (5.5 million), Parkinson’s disease (5.5 million), severe burns (0.3 million), spinal-cord injuries (0.25 million)
and birth defects (0.15 million/year).
You have been called upon in the past to contact your representatives in support of increased funding for NIH and NSF and many of
you have come through. It
seems even more critical to be
sure that the Senate acts to
support basic SCNT research and
not penalize this important
av- enue for future discovery. The
Senate is our last chance. If each of us
writes to our Sena- tors, it could make all
the difference. n [T]he
success of your com- munication depends on your effectiveness in mak-
ing the distinction
between human
cloning and SCNT. The Senate is our last
chance. If each of us
writes to our
Senators, it could make all the difference.