Cloning Questions Resurface

A team of scientists from Advanced Cell Technology Inc., a biotechnology firm in Worcester, Mass., reported in an online scientific journal that it had cloned three embryos it had grown to form four to six cells each before dying.

The results, while preliminary, have sent shockwaves through the science community as researchers hope they can now use the information to find therapies for now incurable diseases, such as cancers, Alzheimer's disease and even AIDS.

Almost immediately after the announcement was made on the Sunday morning television news circuit, a long-brewing debate was re-ignited.

Is stem cell research ethical? Should it be banned?

Prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Congress appeared to be heading exactly in that direction.

In July, the U.S. House passed The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 by a vote of 265-162. The bill outlaws the cloning of human babies and bans the creation of cloned embryos for research.

President Bush added fuel to the fire this summer by saying that federal funds should only be used to further research on the 64 strains of stem cells already in existence.

Bush reiterated his stance a couple of weeks ago when he said he believes cloning is "morally wrong."

"The use of embryos to clone is wrong," Bush told reporters Nov. 25. "We should not as a society grow life to destroy it."

There is now intense pressure on the U.S. Senate to follow the House's lead and vote to ban all human cloning.

But the move might be a little premature.

ACT scientists have insisted over the past two weeks that the results of their research are only preliminary.

There is no way to know if the results will hold up in additional studies.

To ban any and all cloning now would keep us from knowing whether or not the method is effective.

Besides, prohibiting further stem cell research is not a cure-all solution.

If the procedure is banned in the United States, there is nothing to stop scientists from going to other countries to continue with their research.

Still we must proceed with caution.

For every successful embryo that is cloned -- whether for therapies or to clone a person -- many others are destroyed, and potential lives are lost.

According to their report, ACT scientists went through 71 egg cells before they were able to grow a live embryo. And of the three cells that grew into embryos, all died after a few hours.

While no one knows for sure if the embryos could have survived and formed into a baby, the possibility exists that it could have happened.

So it is difficult to support committing millions of federal funds to support research where there is such a high risk of failure and potential lives could be lost.

Also, despite the claims of ACT scientists that they will not use the embryos to clone a human being, we do not know what others might do if given access to the technology.

And who is to say that other scientists have not already cloned human embryos but have yet to publish the results?

Is it possible that a few weeks from now scientists will announce the arrival of the first cloned baby?

No one knows for sure. And that's precisely the problem.

We do not know much of anything at this point.

So while it is hard to say that future stem cell research and cloning should be completely banned, it is also difficult to give the green light for additional research.

Yet despite our hesitations about which way stem cell research should proceed, one fact remains true.

Now that we have cloned the first embryo, there is no turning back.

Columnist April D. Bethea can be reached at adbethea@email.unc.edu.