January 16, 2002

The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) supports efforts to prohibit human reproductive cloning while protecting important areas of medical research, including stem cell research.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), commonly referred to as therapeutic cloning, may prove to be a vital tool in allowing scientists to fully develop the promise of stem cell research. SCNT involves the use of a donor's unfertilized egg and a patient's own cells. The research could allow a patient's own genetic material to be used to develop stem cell therapies specifically tailored to that individual's medical condition, thus not triggering an immune rejection response. In other words, using SCNT could repair patients with their own cells.

Given the scientific potential in this area, CAMR strongly opposes any legislative or regulatory action that would ban research related to SCNT. This would include criminalizing the research or the researchers, and prohibiting the importation of therapies derived from SCNT in other countries.

The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research is comprised of universities, scientific and academic societies, patients' organizations, and other entities that are devoted to supporting stem cell research.

For more information contact:
Maggie Friedman, CRPF, 973-379-2690, ext 115
Julie Kimbrough, JDRF, 212-479-7536