Debate on ethics of stem cell research

[Guest guest]

Those of you in the Univ of California, Berkeley aera have an excellent

chance to hear a debate between two experts on ethics and science.

June 22: " Human Embryonic Stem Cells: The Science, the Controversy and

the Promise " -- UC Berkeley Extension public lecture, Sat., June 22,

1-4:30 p.m., 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC

Berkeley campus; fee $20 general, $10 students. To register, call

510/642-4111 or register online at www.unex.berkeley.edu.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020612/120376_1.html

Unfortunately, it does not look as if TV will pick it up.

Wednesday June 12, 6:22 pm Eastern Time

Press Release

SOURCE: UC Berkeley Extension

UC Berkeley Extension Informs Public On Stem Cell Debate

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--June 12, 2002--As the Senate holds

hearings on a bill to ban human cloning, the stem cell debate capped by

President Bush's address to the

nation last August has been reinvigorated. To address the complex

scientific and ethical issues raised by the debate, this month UC

Berkeley Extension will host two national experts,

legendary bioethicist Ernle Young and bioindustry leader Geron CEO

Okarma, in a public program designed to inform the lay public

about this important and complex topic.

" Human Embryonic Stem Cells: The Science, the Controversy and the

Promise " will take place Sat., June 22, 1-4:30 p.m., 155 Dwinelle Hall,

on the UC Berkeley campus (off Bancroft

Ave. at Telegraph Ave.), in Berkeley. Admission is $20 for the general

public, $10 for students 21 or under with current student ID. To

register, call 510/642-4111 or register online at

www.unex.berkeley.edu.

B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., is president and CEO of the Menlo

Park-based Geron Corporation, a leader in the embryonic stem cell field

since 1995, when the company initiated

and sponsored research collaborations at three university laboratories.

These early efforts led to the successful derivation of human embryonic

stem cells in 1998, the development of

seven different therapeutic stem cell types, and the patenting of

production methods for manufacturing commercial-scale quantities of

therapeutic cells.

In testimony to Congress last summer about the proposed human cloning

ban, Okarma spoke for the biotechnology industry when he recommended

extending the moratorium on human

reproductive cloning but went on to explain:

" It is critical to distinguish use of cloning technology to create a new

human being (reproductive cloning) from other appropriate and important

uses of the technology such as cloning

specific cells, genes and other tissues that do not and cannot lead to a

cloned human being (therapeutic cloning). "

Ernle Young, Ph.D., co-founded the Center for Biomedical Ethics at

Stanford University, where he taught biomedical ethics from 1974 up

until his retirement from teaching earlier this

year. An ordained minister, Young is the recipient of numerous awards, a

lecturer, author, and coauthor of A Time to Be Born, a Time to Die:

Ethics and Conflicts in an Intensive Care

Nursery and Alpha and Omega: Ethics at the Frontiers of Life and Death.

Young serves as an ethics consultant for hospitals, biotechnology

companies, universities, and government

institutions on such topics as euthanasia, neonatal care, and scarcity

of health care resources as well as on stem cell research. On his

approach to bioethics, Young explains:

" Obviously you want to start with a database of factual information.

Because the more hard data you have on which to base your eventual

decision, the more informed, the more

responsible, the more careful that decision is likely to be. The problem

is that facts are elusive and values or value judgements are often

smuggled in as if they were facts. "

The half-day program will cover the basic science of stem cells along

with the possible applications and the potential of stem cell research

to treat a range of debilitating conditions and

deadly diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis,

burns, arthritis, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and heart disease.

While embryonic stem cells carry enormous potential, as they are

harvested from discarded embryos, aborted fetuses or cloning their use

in research is highly controversial. The program

will explore the ethical implications of this research.

Each term, UC Berkeley Extension provides free and low-cost public

programs on contemporary issues as a community service. This summer,

other programs in Berkeley and in San

Francisco cover the future of nonviolence, trends in graphic design and

the latest developments in the field of alcohol addiction. For more

information, see www.unex.berkeley.edu.

For a free catalog listing more than a thousand courses offered by UC

Berkeley Extension this summer in locations around the Bay and beyond,

call toll-free 1-888-UC-SMART

(888/827-6278) or visit Extension's website at www.unex.berkeley.edu,

where you can find the catalog online.