Dr. RICHARD HYNES (co-Chair, Committee on Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research, National Academy of Sciences): Good morning.
We're going to talk some more this morning about the ethical issues raised by human embryonic stem cell research.
Scientists hope human embryonic stem cell research will lead to treatments and cures for many diseases, including diabetes, Alzheimer's and spinal cord injuries.
In 2001, President George W. Bush banned all federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research, except on a handful of "pre-existing" stem cell lines.
The Vatican has over recent decades issued blanket condemnations of artificial methods of birth control, in-vitro fertilization, therapeutic and reproductive cloning, and human embryonic stem cell research.
The centre is already under construction and the president of Stanford University, John Hennessey, supported Mr Clark, saying that many scientists were concerned about the long-term impact of restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), through the Director of NIH, may support and conduct responsible, scientifically worthy human stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cell research, to the extent permitted by law.
For the past 8 years, the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to fund and conduct human embryonic stem cell research has been limited by Presidential actions.
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A breakthrough in human embryonic stem cell research by scientists in South Korea has been hailed as ground-breaking, with the potential to fight a host of ailments, but some people have raised ethical concerns.
Allan Robins, senior vice president and chief science officer of BresaGen said the NIH and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson are working hard to move human embryonic stem cell research forward now that they can allocate federal funds towards the work.
"The president is, in effect, allowing federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to the extent that it's permitted by law -- that is, work with stem cells themselves, not the derivation of stem cells, " Varmus said in a conference call with reporters Sunday.
Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, who heads the committee, requested the names of the research groups who have human embryonic stem cell lines, information on where their research has been published, and details about proprietary rights and what ethical standards were used when the stem cells were derived.
The basic techniques of human embryo creation that Dr. Edwards pioneered form the technical foundation of in vitro fertilization, human cloning techniques, genetic screening of human embryos and embryonic-stem-cell research.
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Last year, Bush responded to a questionnaire from the U.S. Catholic Conference with this question: What is your position on using federal funds for research that involves the destruction of live human embryos to obtain their cells for experimentation (embryonic stem cell research)?
He used to be in charge at Geron and helped fund the research which led to first human embryonic stem cell line being created in 1998 and now heads another company, BioTime.
For some, embryonic stem cell research requires the taking of a human life, but for others, it represents the acceptable use of cells from very early stage embryos that would never have developed into a person.
Embryonic stem cell research has repeatedly raised ethical concerns and human eggs are a scarce resource.
Palin, an evangelical Christian, opposes embryonic stem cell research because it involves the use of human embryos, but her running mate, GOP presidential nominee McCain, does support stem cell research involving embryos.
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In 2001, President Bush limited the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, citing moral and ethical concerns about performing experiments with fertilized human embryos.
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