|
The national debate concerning stem cell research has become mired in yesterday's technology. Most legislative
policies assume that renewable stem cells must be harvested from embryos and cloning of stem cells requires somatic cell nuclear
transfer. Advances in stem cell research have made these assumptions obsolete. For example, recent studies
have shown that stem cells will fuse with other cells and that fusing somatic cells with eggs or even with stem cells may
be a more efficient way of creating stem cells. Instead of focusing on yesterday's technology, legislative policy must aim
at the future-moving beyond today's model of harvesting cells from one living organism and transferring the cells to another.
The panel will include prominent stem cell scientists and an ethicist to discuss the recent advances in stem cell research
and their policy implications.
Chair: Wise Young, M.D., Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Dept. of Cell Biology and Neuroscience,
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,
Speakers: Ruth Faden, MPH, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Phoebe R. Berman Bioethics
Inst., Johns Hopkins University; Darwin Prockop, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for Gene Therapy, Tulane University Health
Sciences Ctr.
BIO2005 4:00 - 5:30pm, Room 102 A/B, Convention Ctr., Jun 21, 2005
|
