[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 41 (Wednesday, April 9, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E607-E608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                CLONING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 1997

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I am inserting my Washington Report for 
Wednesday, March 26, 1997 into the Congressional Record:

                  Hello Dolly: The Debate Over Cloning

       Recent news reports that researchers in Scotland cloned a 
     sheep named Dolly have generated both curiosity and concern 
     among scientists, the clergy and government leaders. Dolly is 
     not the first animal to be cloned by her creators, but it 
     does mark a significant advance in this area of scientific 
     research.
       Cloning animals could have a number of significant medical 
     and agricultural applications, including developing animals 
     whose organs can be used for human transplants, developing 
     animal milk proteins used to treat disease, and creating 
     improved breeds of livestock. These advances will not be seen 
     in the near term because current cloning techniques are quite 
     costly and inefficient. Further research is necessary to 
     develop cost-effective and efficient laboratory cloning 
     techniques for commercial use.
       There is concern, however, about what Dolly means for the 
     future of human cloning. Although science has not been pushed 
     to the point where humans can be cloned, there are potential 
     applications of specialized cell cloning and advanced gene 
     therapies that hold tremendous medical promise. The technique 
     used by Scottish scientists to clone Dolly may enable medical 
     science to explore therapies, such as growing new skin for 
     burn victims, culturing bone marrow for treating cancer 
     patients, manipulating genes to cure sickle cell anemia, and 
     treating human infertility. Yet, the prospect of manipulating 
     human cells in this way raises ethical and moral questions 
     about the sanctity of human life and the ability of 
     scientists to create human beings.


                            what is cloning

       Cloning describes a process of creating exact duplicates of 
     cells or organisms. Traditional cloning methods require 
     manipulating an embryo, a fertilized egg, to make such 
     copies. The creators of Dolly, however, did not use a 
     fertilized egg, but rather an adult mammary cell and an 
     unfertilized egg. The Scottish researchers activated all the 
     genes in a specialized adult cell to create an embryo, and 
     then implanted the cloned embryo in a surrogate sheep mother. 
     That embryo grew to term resulting in the birth of a live 
     lamb. This new cloning technique is significant because it 
     will allow researchers to clone an exact replica of an 
     animal. Researchers could not control the genetic make-up of 
     clones using embryos.
       Human cloning has not advanced to this stage. In 1993, 
     private researchers announced that they were able to clone 
     human embryos using embryos created by in vitro fertilization 
     techniques that were not suitable for in utero implantation. 
     The cloned embryos did not develop to a point where they 
     could be transferred to a human surrogate. Since that time 
     there have been no further reports of human cloning 
     experimentation, and laws have been enacted which prohibit 
     the use of federal funding for research involving the 
     creation of human embryos. Dolly, however, raises the 
     possibility of cloning human beings using unfertilized eggs.


                             policy debate

       The debate over cloning pits those who say government 
     should not seek to regulate scientific inquiry against those 
     who believe government should place limits on the scope of 
     scientific research, particularly in the area of human 
     cloning. This latter group argue that the cloning of Dolly 
     suggests the possibility of scientists, at some future time, 
     reproducing human beings by manipulating the genetic 
     materials in unfertilized eggs. Opponents object that 
     scientists should not be in the business of creating human 
     life, and raise further questions regarding a clone's 
     identity as a human.


                     GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSE TO DOLLY

       Shortly after the announcement of Dolly's existence, 
     President Clinton asked a national bioethics commission to 
     begin a thorough review of the legal and ethical issues 
     associated with the use of cloning technology. The commission 
     is expected to report its findings to the President in late 
     May. The President also ordered a moratorium on the use of 
     federal funds for human cloning and urged the private sector 
     to adopt a voluntary ban on human cloning until the 
     commission completes its evaluation. Current law forbids the 
     use of federal funding for human embryo research, including 
     using human embryos for cloning, but the Administration 
     considered the moratorium necessary because embryonic tissue 
     was not used to clone Dolly. Congress is also reviewing the 
     matter. Bills have been introduced to prohibit the use of 
     federal funds for cloning or to ban human cloning outright. 
     Committees have started to debate these proposals. The 
     Administration is urging Congress to wait until the 
     commission's work is completed, rather than risk passing a 
     law which might have the unintended effect of hampering 
     research on gene therapies for various hereditary conditions 
     like Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Information 
     about the ability of a cell to turn on and off specialized 
     capabilities will likely facilitate further advances in 
     biomedical and agricultural research.

[[Page E608]]

                               conclusion

       My strong suspicion is that if the cloning of human embryos 
     is possible it will happen somewhere, sometime. The history 
     of science is the history of the dominance of science and 
     technology, and Presidents and Congresses do not have the 
     power to defy it. I am extremely reluctant to see government 
     poking around in the business of deciding what scientific 
     research can go forward and what cannot, but it is also true 
     that while we want science to be free we also want it to be 
     responsible. Here we are dealing with matters of very grave 
     consequence.
       This new technology may be a little scary. The dilemmas and 
     the risks of it need to be carefully evaluated. Rational 
     debate, perhaps followed by legislation, may be necessary, 
     but we must be very careful not to turn away from what 
     biology and medicine can do. Scientists are telling us that 
     some types of human suffering could be alleviated by cloning, 
     so we must not overreact.
       As I think about the potential of the post-Dolly world, I 
     have a sense that a towering wave is about to crash over us. 
     All of us have to try to understand the science and to reach 
     a sensible conclusion based not on ignorance but on broad 
     informed public debate and understanding. I think all of us 
     have to approach this problem with humility and reverence 
     simply because human life is sacred.

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