ASRM: HIGHLIGHTS IN FERTILITY AND STERILITY Vol. 73, No. 6, June 2000

Editors Note: The ASRM is a founding member of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. We wanted to make sure you had this very important release from CAMR. The statement will be published tomorrow in a full-page advertisement in Roll Call and is being presented to Senators’ offices today. The American Society for Cell Biology coordinated the letter.

Forty Nobel Laureates Announce Support For 'Therapeutic Cloning'

Rare Public Statement Opposes Brownback Bill, Highlights Its Threats to the Fight Against Deadly Diseases, Chilling Effect on Scientific Research

Washington, DC – Forty American Nobel Laureates, including pioneers in research on cancer and other life-threatening diseases, today released a joint statement strongly supporting nuclear transplantation technology for research and therapeutic purposes (more commonly known as therapeutic cloning.) The statement cites the critical role this research could play in the fight against “the most debilitating diseases known to man,” and strongly opposes legislation proposed by Senator Brownback (R-KS) that would ban nuclear transplantation technology.

“Senator Brownback’s legislation, if it becomes law, would have a chilling effect on all scientific research in the United States,” the Nobel Laureates say.

“We decided to speak out to clear up the confusion that has arisen about this issue. Cloning humans and `therapeutic cloning’ (or nuclear transplantation technology) are fundamentally different,” said Paul Berg, who won the Nobel Prize in 1980. “The cloning of a human being should be prohibited. Nuclear transplantation technology, on the other hand, is meant to produce stem cells, not babies.”

“This impressive statement underlines what advocates for the 100 million Americans with life-threatening diseases have been saying: this really is a matter of life and death,” said Michael Manganiello, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. “Nuclear transplantation technology means hope. The Brownback bill would deny it.”

“It's discouraging that there are some who oppose nuclear transplantation technology when it could mean improved approaches for treating spinal cord injury and degenerative conditions including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which together affect millions of Americans and their families every day.” said David Baltimore, Ph.D., President of California Institute of Technology and winner of Nobel Prize in 1975 for physiology.

Added Manganiello, “The Nobel statement comes at a critical time when the Senate is considering a ban on all forms of cloning and we are so grateful that Nobel laureates across the nation have shown their strong support for this critical area of medical research.”

The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) is comprised of nationally-recognized patient organizations, universities, scientific societies, foundations, and individuals with life-threatening illnesses and disorders, advocating for the advancement of breakthrough research and technologies in regenerative medicine – including stem cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer – in order to cure disease and alleviate suffering.

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American Society for Cell Biology
NATIONAL OFFICE: 8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 750 Bethesda, Maryland 20814-2762
TEL: 301/347-9300 FAX 301/347-9310 E-MAIL ascbinfo@ascb.org; http://www.ascb.org/

Two National Academy of Sciences expert committees, as well as noted national and international organizations, have evaluated current scientific and medical information and have concluded that cloning a human being using the method of nuclear transplantation cannot be achieved safely. Such attempts in other mammals often have catastrophic outcomes. Furthermore, virtually nothing is known about the potential safety of such procedures in humans. Consequently, there is widespread and strong agreement that an attempt to clone a human being would constitute unwarranted experimentation on human subjects and should be prohibited by legislation that imposes criminal and civil penalties on those who would implant the product of nuclear transplantation into a woman’s uterus.

Unfortunately, some legislation, such as that introduced by Senator Brownback (R-KS) would foreclose the legitimate use of nuclear transplantation technology for research and therapeutic purposes. This would impede progress against some of the most debilitating diseases known to man. For example, it may be possible to use nuclear transplantation technology to produce patient-specific embryonic stem cells that could overcome the rejection normally associated with tissue and organ transplantation. Nuclear transplantation technology might also permit the creation of embryonic stem cells with defined genetic constitution, permitting a new and powerful approach to understanding how inherited predispositions lead to a variety of cancers and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

A critical element of the Brownback bill would prevent the importation into the United States of medical treatments developed in other parts of the world using nuclear transplantation. It seems unbelievable that the United States Senate would deny advanced medical treatment to hundreds of millions of suffering Americans because of an aversion to a technology that was used in its development.

By declaring scientifically valuable biomedical research illegal, Senator Brownback’s legislation, if it becomes law, would have a chilling effect on all scientific research in the United States. Such legal restrictions on scientific investigation would also send a strong signal to the next generation of researchers that unfettered and responsible scientific investigation is not welcome in the United States.

We, the undersigned, urge that legislation to impose criminal and civil sanctions against attempts to create a cloned human being be enacted. We also oppose strongly any legislation that would prohibit or impede the scientifically legitimate, responsible use of nuclear transplantation technology for research and therapeutic purposes. Similarly, any attempt to prohibit the use of therapies in the United States that were developed with the aid of nuclear transplantation technology overseas denies hope for those seeking new therapies for the most debilitating diseases known to man.

Sidney Altman
Sterling Professor of Biology
Yale University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1989

Kenneth J. Arrow
Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, Emeritus
Stanford University
Nobel Prize in Economics, 1972

Julius Axelrod
Scientist Emeritus
National Institutes of Health
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1970

David Baltimore
President and Professor of Biology
California Institute of Technology
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1975

Paul Berg
Cahill Professor of Cancer Research and Biochemistry, Emeritus
Director, Beckman Center for Molecular & Genetic Medicine, Emeritus
Stanford University School of Medicine
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1980

J. Michael Bishop
University Professor and Chancellor
University of California, San Francisco
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1989

Thomas R. Cech
Distinguished Professor
University of Colorado, Boulder
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1989

Stanley Cohen
Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Emeritus
Vanderbilt University
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1986

Elias James Corey
Sheldon Emery Research Professor of Chemistry
Harvard University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1990

Johann Deisenhofer
Virginia and Edward Linthicum
Distinguished Chair in Biomolecular Science
Regental Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1988

Renato Dulbecco
Distinguished Research Professor
President Emeritus
The Salk Instistute
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1975

Edmond H. Fischer
Professor, Emeritus of Biochemistry
University of Washington
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1992

Jerome I. Friedman
Institute Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1990

Walter Gilbert
Carl M. Loeb University Professor
The Biological Laboratories
Harvard University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1980

Alfred G. Gilman
Regental Professor and Chairman
Raymond and Ellen Willie Distinguished Chair in Molecular Neuropharmacology
Director, Alliance for Cellular Signaling
Chairman, Department of Pharmacology
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1994

Donald A. Glaser
Professor of Physics and Neurobiology
University of California, Berkeley
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1960

Joseph L. Goldstein
Regental Professor
Department of Molecular Genetics
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1985

Paul Greengard
Vincent Astor Professor
Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
The Rockefeller University
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2000

Lee Hartwell
President and Director
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Professor, Department of Genome Sciences
University of Washington School of Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2001

Dudley Herschbach
Baird Professor of Science
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1986

Tim Hunt
Principal Scientist
Cancer Research UK
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2001

Jerome Karle
Chief Scientist
Laboratory for the Structure of Matter
Naval Research Laboratory
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1985

Arthur Kornberg
Emma Pfeiffer Merner Professor
Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry
Stanford University School of Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1959

Edwin G. Krebs
Professor Emeritus, Senior Investigator Emeritus
Department of Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
University of Washington School of Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1992

Leon M. Lederman
Pritzker Professor of Science
Illinois Institute of Technology
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1988

Edward B. Lewis
Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Biology, Emeritus
California Institute of Technology
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1995

William N. Lipscomb
Abbot and James Lawrence Professor, Emeritus
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Harvard University
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1976

Ferid Murad
Professor and Chairman
Department of Integrative Biology, Pharmacology and Physiology
University of Texas at Houston
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1998

Marshall Nirenberg
Chief, Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics
National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute
National Institutes of Health
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1968

Sir Paul Nurse
Director-General (Science)
Cancer Research UK
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2001

Burton Richter
Paul Piggot Professor in the Physical Sciences
Director, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Emeritus
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1976

Richard J. Roberts
Research Director
New England Biolabs
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1993

Phillip A. Sharp
Institute Professor
Director, McGovern Institute
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1993

Hamilton O. Smith
Senior Director of DNA Resources
Celera Genomics
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1978

Robert M. Solow
Institute Professor Emeritus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nobel Prize in Economics, 1987

E. Donnall Thomas
Professor of Medicine, Emeritus
University of Washington
Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1990

Harold Varmus
President, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Former Director, National Institutes of Health
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1989

James D. Watson
President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Director, National Center for Human Genome Research, NIH, 1989-1992
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1962

Torsten Nils Wiesel
The Rockefeller University, President Emeritus
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1981

Robert W. Wilson
Senior Scientist
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Nobel Prize in Physics, 1978

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