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For more information, contact Bob Beard at 434-982-4490. July 12, 2004 U.Va. BIOETHICIST CHOSEN TO CO-CHAIR PANEL ON STEM CELL RESEARCH |
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Jonathan Moreno, Ph.D., director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Virginia Health System, has been appointed co-chairman of a new National Academy of Sciences committee on stem cell research. The mission of the panel will be to develop voluntary guidelines for the scientific community to encourage responsible practices in human embryonic stem cell research, including the use of new stem cell lines from surplus in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos, embryos created by nuclear transplantation and those created with donated reproductive cells. Currently, there are no scientific and ethical standards to guide academics and industry in their oversight of stem cell research. “These guidelines should make scientists feel more comfortable with stem cell research. They will also help the public understand that it is possible to do this research ethically and appropriately,” said Moreno. “We hope that both academia and industry will adopt these guidelines so that there will be more clarity on how this research should be done.” Human embryonic stem cells can become every type of cell in the body. They are important for research on such diseases as diabetes, cancer and Parkinson’s. It’s hoped that a better understanding of cell development would allow scientists to perhaps correct errors that cause disease. But the use of stem cells has generated debate since a decision by President George W. Bush in August 2001 prohibiting any federal funding for research except on certain existing cell lines. The National Academy of Sciences has already taken the position that embryonic stem cell research should go forward. However, the NAS believes there should be a global ban on human reproductive cloning, which will not be a focus of the panel on stem cell guidelines. Moreno will lead the eleven-member panel along with Richard O. Hynes, Ph.D., director of the Center for Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The panel’s formal name is The Committee on Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Moreno and Hynes are organizing a public workshop on human stem cell research later this year in Washington, D.C. “This panel is part of a set of events that will focus attention on how to go forward on this type of research,” Moreno said. ### |