Posted on: Monday, February 16, 2004

EDITORIAL
Korean cloning success should stir our interest

Word that a team of Korean scientists has successfully cloned the world's first mature human embryo should force a fresh look at the very restrictive rules on embryonic research in the United States.

With strong support from the Bush administration, federal rules severely limit the kinds and amounts of basic embryonic research that can take place. Scientists warned that the strict rules would not stop research, they would just push it to more receptive climates overseas.

Which, apparently, is what has happened.

The Korean scientists are clear that their goal is the creation of human stem cells, which have vast medical potential. There is no interest, they say, in pushing this research to clone a human being, an idea most ethicists and scientists oppose.

And that's where the need to rethink domestic policy on this matter comes in.

Many scientists argue it would be far preferable to have cloning and stem cell research here in the United States, under strong federal oversight. Such oversight would not be intended to restrict or abolish such research, but to ensure that it is being conducted for proper medical reasons.

The medical promise of stem cells is vast and exciting. We should not let that theoretical fear keep us from exploring that vast promise, at home as well as abroad.