Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
The government should reverse position and make federal funds available to scientists doing research on stem cells, highly adaptable cells taken from human embryos, a bioethics panel advised last week.

The National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) took up the debate last November at the request of President Clinton.

Last week, the collection of lawyers, doctors, ethicists, and other experts said in a report that the current ban on using federal funds for stem-cell research is counterproductive, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“In our view, the ban conflicts with several of the ethical goals of medicine and related health disciplines, especially healing, prevention, and research,” the Commission said in its report.

Proponents of stem-cell research say that the cells, which can be manipulated to form any human tissue, promise revolutionary treatments for mental illness, tissue transplants, and failing organs.

But critics argue that using the cells, which are taken from embryos discarded after in-vitro fertilization procedures, is immoral.

The NBAC said that open funding of the research would ensure transparency of stem-cell research and lead to greater gains. The group also said that embryos should only be donated, not bought or sold, and that donors should receive counseling, according to the Times.

President Clinton, who has been reticent about reversing the federal ban on funding embryo research, thanked the NBAC for its work, but declined to say whether he would endorse the change, the Reuters news agency reported.