A meeting of President Bush's Council on Bioethics ended in division last week. The council members are said to be 'deeply divided over the moral status of the human embryo' and have 'given up hope' that a consensus on the ethics of human cloning can be reached.
Leon Kass, a bioethicist and the chair of the council, said that instead of presenting a conclusive argument to the president and to Congress, the council would give a 'thoughtful discussion' of the arguments on each side. It will also produce a full report by the summer. Kass said that 'the important thing is for people to have a full understanding of all of the arguments'.
President Bush has previously declared that he is in opposition to all forms of human cloning. Congress members are considering the issue, but it is unclear what effect the council's findings will have, although it will report that it is unanimous in its opposition to human reproductive cloning. It is likely that Congress will approve a ban on this, but it seems that there is considerable opposition to a ban on therapeutic cloning.
Meanwhile, Peter Raven, the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, warned at the association's annual meeting in Boston, US, that restrictions imposed on stem cell research by President Bush would cause a 'brain drain' of US scientists. He said that a ban on the creation of embryos for research is leading American scientists to consider moving to the UK or other countries where stem cell regulation is more liberal.
Sources and References
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US facing exodus of stem cell experts
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Bioethics council debates cloning
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Bush panel mulls therapeutic cloning
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Cloning curbs 'may cause US brain drain'
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