NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE OPPOSES RESEARCH BAN

March 26, 1998

BOSTON (Reuters) - A prestigious medical journal has added its voice to the chorus of scientists and medical organizations which have urged Congress not to impose a ban on research into human cloning.

"Like many others, we believe that any plan to ban research on cloning human cells is seriously misguided," the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) wrote in an editorial published in Thursday's edition.

The Boston-based weekly joined the American Medical Association and other organizations in opposition to Republican legislation to ban all cloning in human embryo research.

Instead the Journal supported a plan by Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dianne Feinstein of California which would place a 10-year ban on human cloning but allow the cloning of human cells and tissues for research.

Studies using the cloning of embryonic stem cells "could provide valuable information about the mechanism of aging or the causes of cancer," NEJM editor- in-chief Jerome Kassirer and consultant Nadia Rosenthal wrote in an editorial.

Current law bans federally funded research on human embroyos, but not private work. The Feinstein-Kennedy proposal would allow such research up to the point of transferring cloned cells to a woman's uterus.

The Republican and Democratic plans have stalled in the Senate because of a lack of common ground between the two proposed bills.

The NEJM also urged scientists to engage in an honest debate with the general public on the use of human cloning.

"We need to think about what, if any, circumstances might warrant cloning, as well as the circumstances under which it should never be allowed," the editorial said.