Bethesda, MD. - The American Society for Cell Biology, consisting of 11,000 basic biomedical researchers in the United States and 45 other countries around the world, strongly opposes a United Nations resolution that would prohibit valuable stem cell research needed to understand and treat disease. The Society remains supportive of the resolution introduced in the U.N. earlier this year that would ban reproductive cloning but allow stem cell research to continue.

Since 1997, the American Society for Cell Biology has strongly opposed the reproductive cloning of human beings. Despite politically motivated claims, current scientific research suggests that the technology now available will not enable the creation through cloning of a healthy human being or an embryo capable of being born as a healthy human.

There is, however, substantial scientific evidence indicating that somatic cell nuclear transfer, sometimes called therapeutic cloning, will play a significant role in the fight against some of the most debilitating illnesses known to humankind. New stem cell lines, produced by using the patient’s own genetic material to generate patient-specific stem cells, may provide the potential for stem cell therapies for diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, AIDS, spinal cord injury, and Parkinson's disease, and avoid the complication of rejection.

"We condemn efforts to foreclose research efforts that could bring relief to millions of people throughout the world. Ethical concerns must be considered, but those considerations must also include the scientific community's imperative to explore every lead that could alleviate the suffering of the world's peoples," said Nobel Laureate Paul Berg, Chair of the ASCB Public Policy Committee.

“Stem cell research is an essential first step if we are ever to be able to achieve the promise of regenerative medicine, a wholly new approach for repairing cells and tissues in the treatment of currently intractable human diseases,” said Dr. Larry Goldstein, Vice Chair of the American Society for Cell Biology Public Policy Committee.

In addition to the therapeutic promise, somatic cell nuclear transfer permits entirely new approaches to the study of how a single cell is transformed into the trillions of different cells and tissues with myriad fates and capabilities, and how these cells fail in disease. By generating embryonic stem cells with defined mutations, scientists gain a new approach to understanding how inherited predispositions lead to serious disease.

Current science also demonstrates that research on all types of stem cells is critical for rapid progress. There is no credible scientific basis for the claim that research on human adult stem cells can replace research on human embryonic stem cells, or vice versa. There is strong evidence that stem cells derived from human blastocysts (embryonic stem cells) have potential for treating and understanding many different diseases for which there is no solid evidence that adult stem cells can substitute. “In fact, adult stem cell researchers are among the strongest supporters of embryonic stem cell research,” said Goldstein.

“As the United Nations reconsiders efforts to institute a world-wide ban on reproductive cloning, we urge that they carefully avoid precluding or compromising invaluable basic cell biology research with the potential to yield novel therapies and cures for a wide range of diseases,” said ASCB Public Policy Committee member Richard Hynes of MIT.

Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (301) 347-9300