FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contact: Maggie Goldberg
202-833-0355
or 973-445-1921
April 10, 2002
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.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The statement will be published tomorrow in
a full-page advertisement in Roll Call and is being presented to
Senators' offices today. The letter was coordinated by the American
Society for Cell Biology.