NEWS: Report supports use of embryos

[Murray Charters <Murray_Charters@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, March 29, 2001
Report supports use of embryos
OTTAWA (CP) -- Ottawa should allow the use of human embryos
for stem cell research, says a working group commissioned by the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

But the 10-member panel said Thursday that cloning or creating
human embryos for stem cell research should not be allowed.

"We're recommending a continued moratorium on human cloning,
including cloning solely for the purposes of deriving stem cell lines,"
said the group's chairwoman, Dr. Janet Rossant,
a University of Toronto geneticist and microbiologist.

"We're also proposing a moratorium on research which involves
combining human embryonic stem cells with early animal embryos
or, vice versa, animal stem cells with human embryos."

Stem cells are immature cells that have the ability to either develop
into a variety of human tissues or organs or to renew themselves.

Embryo stem cells are the most flexible -- and most controversial --
because they can develop into any type of cell in the body.

Such cells could provide the cure to degenerative diseases such as
Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, which hands out about
$400 million in operating grants each year, plans to weigh public
opinion on the working paper before establishing firm guidelines,
probably by fall.



*********

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn