'Superman' calls for cloning OK
2002-03-06 08:43
Washington - Paralysed Superman hero, actor Christopher Reeve, has urged United States lawmakers to approve legislation to allow therapeutic cloning or risk being left behind in pioneering research into human embryonic stem cells.
His head clamped to the back of his chair, speaking slowly and
breathing only with the help of a ventilator, Reeve warned a senate panel that scientists would lose valuable time if lawmakers did not permit research into the new technology.
"Time is absolutely critical," said the wheelchair-bound former actor.
"If the government forces scientists to attempt to make adult
stem cells behave like embryonic stem cells, they might waste five years or more and fail. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands will have died."
The US senate is due to consider legislation on therapeutic
cloning before the end of March, but the emotions attached to the
issue make the outcome of any vote hard to predict.
Row rages on about ethics
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Ted Kennedy are sponsoring a bill that would ban reproductive cloning, but support what they term nuclear transplantation research for therapeutic purposes.
Kennedy said: "We must not confuse human cloning with regenerative medicine. One creates a person, and should be banned. The other provides a cure, and deserves our strong support."
But opponents are equally adamant that congress must put a stop to cloning in any form.
"Creating human life simply for the purpose of destroying it is immoral, unethical and should be illegal," said Senator Mary
Landrieu, who backs a complete ban on all forms of human cloning.
President George W Bush, several lawmakers and groups opposed
to human cloning have urged the senate to act quickly to ban the
practice. The Republican-led House of Representatives approved a
motion banning all forms of human cloning in July.
Stem cells have the potential to mutate into any other type of
cell in the body. Researchers believe that if they can be
successfully engineered, they could be used to replace old,
damaged or diseased tissue.
And that, in turn, opens the prospect of vast advances in
treatments for illnesses such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and
cancer, as well as strokes, burns, spinal-cord injuries and
diabetes.
The controversy arises because stem cells are obtained either
from human embryos or from embryos obtained through therapeutic
cloning, and some critics fear the distinction between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning will get increasingly blurred.
They want research only on adult stem cells, rather than those
taken from embryos.
Others maving towards cloning
Around the world, however, scientists already are moving quickly: British scientists last month received the go-ahead to clone human embryos for research, raising the prospect of Britain establishing the world's first bank of human stem cells as early as next year.
And Sweden, a world leader in stem cell research, is in favour
of cloning early-stage human embryos for therapeutic purposes and
is preparing to change legislation to allow the practice, two
ministers said in January.
"Our country is about to lose its preeminence in science and
medicine," Reeve told the senate health, education and labour
committee.
Since a riding accident in 1995 in which Reeve broke his top two vertebrae, the actor, famous for his youthful good looks and movie portrayal of the comic-book hero, Superman, has been paralysed from the neck down.
Paul Berg, winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry and a
professor of cancer research and biochemistry at Stanford
University, said the nuclear transplantation technology was a far
cry from "the spectre of cloning generated by films and novels".
"Surely we must concede that all of us have a responsibility to those suffering from life-threatening diseases and severe handicaps to explore every opportunity and every means to alleviate their suffering," he said in a statement submitted to the panel. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA