AMA welcomes cloning report
The AMA has welcomed a House of Representatives Committee report that supports the use of adult stem cells for medical research.
The report - Human Cloning: scientific, ethical and regulatory aspects of human cloning and stem cell research - contains the outcomes of an inquiry into cloning by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.
AMA Vice President, Dr Trevor Mudge, said the report strikes a fair balance between the need to conduct stem cell research and the need for of a national regulatory system for all cloning-related activity.
Dr Mudge said the use of adult stem cells is of great value in the advancement of research into diseases including diabetes, Alzheimer's and other dementias, spinal cord damage, and even the possibility of growing organs for transplantation.
"The possibilities are both exciting and real," Dr Mudge said.
Dr Mudge acknowledged the Committee's calls to ban the deliberate creation of embryos for experimentation and reiterated the necessity for proper legislation in this area in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania.
Dr Mudge also noted the Committee's support for a three-year moratorium on the use of sematic cell nuclear transfer techniques - the so-called 'Dolly' technique - to produce a human embryo for research.
"We are still left with the ethical dilemma of the source of the stem cells," Dr Mudge said.
"A secular view of ethics must be predicated on respect for human life.
"To this end, it is appropriate that there will be widespread community consultation before the final outcome on cloning, which will be decided in due course by our political leaders," Dr Mudge said.
Here is a link to the report: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/humancloning/contents.htm
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