             Copyright 1998 Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.
                          Congressional Press Releases

                           February 5, 1998, Thursday

SECTION: PRESS RELEASE

LENGTH: 2078 words

HEADLINE: S.1601- HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT OF 1998

BYLINE: LARRY CRAIG , SENATOR , SENATE

 BODY:
   February 5, 1998

   S.  1601 - Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 1998
...

somatic cell nuclear transfer, sponsors say
they would not interfere with important research such as gene therapy;
cloning of DNA, molecules, cells, tissues, plantsand animals; stem cell
research; and other work. The bill states that nothing init shall be
construed to restrict areas of scientific research that are not
specifically prohibited. 


   BACKGROUND

   In February 1997, the media reported that a scientist in Scotland, Dr.
Ian Wilmut, had successfully cloned an apparently healthy lamb (named
Dolly) from anadult sheep. Dolly, a genetic twin adult, was the only live
birth to result out of 277 attempts. Prior to her successful birth,
several sheep embryos and fetuses were deformed and/or spontaneously
aborted. 

   Soon after this announcement, President Clinton directed the National
Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) - a 15-member commission created by
the President under Executive Order 12975 of October 3, 1995, all the
members of which are appointed by the President - to examine the "ethical
questions" surrounding cloning, "particularly with respect to the possible
use of this technology to clone human embryos." On March 4, 1997, he
issued what he described as a moratorium on federal funding of human
cloning and asked the private sector to impose a voluntary moratorium on
itself pending review of the issue by the NBAC. 

   Brief Description of [7m Cloning [0m by [7m Somatic Cell [0m
Nuclear Transfer

   Up until Dolly, the principal way in which researchers achieved getting
a genetically identical twin was to split off a cell from an embryo in the
early stages of development. These cells, because they have not become
"differentiated" - i.e., they have not yet become certain types of cells
(blood cells, skin cells, etc., which normally can produce additional
cells only of thesame type of tissue) - are "totipotent." Totipotent
cells, like a newly fertilized egg cell (the "zygote"), have the ability
to give rise to unlike cells and thus to form a new individual (or a part
of one, such as an organ). 

   In humans, totipotent cells each have 46 chromosomes (the parts of the
cellular nucleus containing DNA, which determines the individuals genetic
characteristics) and can develop as an individual human being. (In humans,
all the cells of the body except "germ cells" - i.e., eggs and sperm -
have 46 chromosomes; germ cells have only 23. At fertilization, the 23
chromosomes from each parent combine to form a new 46-chromosome
individual with genetic characteristics from both.) For some time after
fertilization, the zygote remains totipotent, but after the development of
specialized tissues, the[H ells become differentiated; they become a part
of the whole organism with a specific function, and all the other
functions and mechanisms which might have developed are suppressed. These
differentiated cells, as distinguished from totipotent cells, are referred
to as "somatic" (which means, of the "body"). This is why a cell or a
sample of tissue from an adult human cannot be cloned into a new
individual, since the somatic cells can only produce tissue of the same
type: skin, muscle, etc. 

   The breakthrough with Dolly was the removal of the nucleus of an adult
somatic cell and its transference to a zygote that had had its nucleus
removed and, through electrical means, the fusion of the nucleus into the
new cell. The result is a totipotent embryo with the genetic information
of the adult from which the somatic cell nucleus was taken. This is known
as [7m cloning [0m by [7m somatic cell [0m nuclear transfer. "Creating
a Child" 

   The cloning procedure described above poses some danger of damage to
the genetic information because in the nucleus of an adult cell the
genetic materialhas aged and the DNA can mutate. Consequently, no one
knows the health risks to any child created by cloning. This is the reason
that the Clinton-appointed NBAC, in its report of June 7, 1997, (Executive
Summary, emphasis added) concluded that "at this time it is morally
unacceptable for anyone in the publicor private sector, whether in
research or clinical setting, to attempt to create a child using [7m 
somatic cell [0m nuclear transfer [7m cloning.

[0m" This conclusionwas based on the assessment that "current scientific
information is not safe to use on humans at this point" and would involve
"unacceptable risks to the fetus and/or potential child." As such, the
NBAC clearly left open the possibility of support for human cloning if and
when the technological means for doing so safely were to improve. 

   Also worth notice is the NBAC's reference to "creat[Also worth notice
is the NBAC's reference to "creat[ing] a child" by "somatic cell nuclear
transfer and implantation [of the cloned zygote] into a woman's body." The
NBAC thus left open the question as to whether the initial somatic cell
nuclear transfer itselfconstitutes C4 creating a child" or whether it is
also necessary to implant the cloned zygote into an environment capable of
bringing it to birth (i.e., uterineimplantation).  On June 9, 1997,
President Clinton transmitted to Congress a draft bill based on the NBAC's
conclusions which he asked Congress to give "prompt and favorable
consideration." The President's draft would make it "unlawful for any
person ... to perform or use somatic cell nuclear transfer with the intent
of introducing the product of that transfer into a woman's womb or in any
other way creating a human being." The draft is not clear on what is meant
by "or in any other way creating a human being."
[H al agreement that a
human embryo, whether or not it is legally recognized as a legal "person"'
in the constitutional sense, is a form of human life - i.e., a complete
human organism. It is clear that the President's objection is not so much
to the process of human cloning and the creation of a new embryo (an
individual human organism) as it is to allowing that newly created embryo
to be implanted and born alive. (This position is consistent with
President Clinton's directive to federal agencies in March 1997,prior to
the NBAC report, that "no federal funds shall be used for cloning
humanbeings." That directive also refers to "human embryos created for
implantation.")

   Key Distinction Between Bond/Frist/Gregg and Feinstein/Kennedy

   This question - whether the primary moral hazard constituted in human
cloningis creating them per se or letting them mature and be born - is the
key distinction between S. 1601 (the Bond/Frist/Gregg bill) and President
Clinton's perspective, which is the same as that found in S. 1602 (the
Feinstein/Kennedy bill). In its central language, S. 1601 (Section 3)
makes it unlawful to "use human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology"
or to "import a human embryo produced through somatic cell nuclear
transfer technology." In sharp contrast, S. 1602 (Section 4) makes it
unlawful to "implant or attempt to implant the products of somatic cell
nuclear transfer into a woman's uterus" or to engage[H