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April 10, 2002

FORTY NOBEL LAUREATES ANNOUNCE SUPPORT FOR `THERAPEUTIC CLONING'

Rare Public Statement Opposes Brownback Bill, Highlights Its Threats to the Fight Against Deadly Diseases, Chilling Effect on Scientific Research

Washington, DC -- Forty American Nobel Laureates, including pioneers in research on cancer and other life-threatening diseases, today released a joint statement strongly supporting nuclear transplantation technology for research and therapeutic purposes (more commonly known as therapeutic cloning.) The statement cites the critical role this research could play in the fight against the most debilitating diseases known to man, and strongly opposes legislation proposed by Senator Brownback (R-KS) that would ban nuclear transplantation technology.

Senator Brownback's legislation, if it becomes law, would have a chilling effect on all scientific research in the United States, the Nobel Laureates say.

"We decided to speak out to clear up the confusion that has arisen about this issue. Cloning humans and `therapeutic cloning' (or nuclear transplantation technology) are fundamentally different," said Paul Berg, who won the Nobel Prize in 1980. "The cloning of a human being should be prohibited. Nuclear transplantation technology, on the other hand, is meant to produce stem cells, not babies."

"This impressive statement underlines what advocates for the 100 million Americans with life-threatening diseases have been saying: this really is a matter of life and death, said Michael Manganiello, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. Nuclear transplantation technology means hope. The Brownback bill would deny it."

"It's discouraging that there are some who oppose nuclear transplantation technology when it could mean improved approaches for treating spinal cord injury and degenerative conditions including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which together affect millions of Americans and their families every day," said David Baltimore, Ph.D., President of California Institute of Technology and winner of Nobel Prize in 1975 for physiology.

Added Manganiello, "The Nobel statement comes at a critical time when the Senate is considering a ban on all forms of cloning and we are so grateful that Nobel laureates across the nation have shown their strong support for this critical area of medical research."

The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) is comprised of nationally-recognized patient organizations, universities, scientific societies, foundations, and individuals with life-threatening illnesses and disorders, advocating for the advancement of breakthrough research and technologies in regenerative medicine, including stem cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer, in order to cure disease and alleviate suffering.

Nobel Prize Winners Opposing a Ban on Somatic Cell Nuclear Transplantation:

Sidney Altman Yale University Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1989

Kenneth J. Arrow Stanford University (emeritus) Nobel Prize in Economics, 1972

Julius Axelrod National Institutes of Health Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1970

David Baltimore California Institute of Technology Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1975

Paul Berg Stanford University School of Medicine (emeritus) Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1980

J. Michael Bishop University of California, San Francisco Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1989

Thomas R. Cech University of Colorado, Boulder Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1989

Stanley Cohen Vanderbilt University (emeritus) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1986

Elias James Corey Harvard University Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1990

Johann Deisenhofer University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1988

Renato Dulbecco The Salk Institute (emeritus) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1975