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February 14, 2003
Cloning
Pioneer James Robl to Keynote Weissman Center Spring Series
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James
Robl |
Bacteria do it. Yeasts
do it. Even some snails, shrimp, and aphids do it. While all these
creatures reproduce through cloning, creating an exact replica
of themselves, the cloning of more complex species, such as humans,
still seems unnatural to many of us. Is it simply a case of getting
used to a new technology, the way most of us got used to the idea
of “test tube babies” over the past two decades? Or
will reproductive cloning of humans ultimately be deemed unethical?
Questions such as these about cloning as well as about embryonic
stem-cell research—for disease treatment, prevention, and
reproduction—will be the focus of a series of events this
spring on the theme The Political Embryo: Reconceiving Human
Reproduction, presented by the Weissman Center for Leadership.
In addition to a wide-ranging discussion of cloning, the series
will look at the ethical and legal issues surrounding new and
developing human reproductive technologies, and how visual representations
and the media influence our views of human reproduction as it
intersects with technology.
The series will bring together leading scientists, ethicists,
legal experts, science writers, and artists for discussions about
existing and emerging human reproductive technologies from a variety
of perspectives. What impact does laboratory research have on
everyday life? How is that work perceived and represented in both
scientific and lay terms? What is the impact of visual representation
in communicating the science (and fantasy) of human reproduction?
How do we weigh the potential benefits of stem-cell research against
its perceived ethical and cultural costs? Who is making policy
and how?
The first event, which takes place Thursday, February 20, at 7:30
pm in Gamble Auditorium, will feature James M. Robl, Ph.D., president
and chief scientific officer of Hematech, who will give the keynote
lecture, titled “Cloning and Embryonic Stem Cells: Controversy
and Reality.” Rachel Fink, associate professor of biological
sciences, who will moderate the session, notes that Robl has been
“one of the leaders in mammalian cloning. This will be an
opportunity to get an up-to-date view of these issues. His talk
will, we hope, clearly explain what’s fact and what’s
not fact and where he sees the field going.”
Given President Bush’s recent call to Congress “to
pass a law against all human cloning,” one important part
of the conversation generated by Robl’s talk is likely to
be the distinction between reproductive cloning and therapeutic
cloning.
Fink notes that there is widespread agreement among scientists,
politicians, and most citizens that reproductive cloning of human
beings—when and if it becomes possible—should be banned.
But proponents of therapeutic cloning—including, most visibly,
actor and quadriplegic Christopher Reeve—have been campaigning
vigorously to educate the public on the medical benefits that
the cloning of embryonic stem cells may provide. “In reproductive
cloning,” explains Fink, “an embryo is created by
nuclear transfer [a process by which the nucleus of an adult cell
is transferred into an egg whose own nucleus has been removed]
with the intent of implant-ing the resulting embryo into the uterus
of a woman, which will give rise to a live birth of a baby whose
genetic makeup is identical to that of the donor nucleus.
“In therapeutic cloning an embryo of a few hundred cells
is created by nuclear transfer with the intent to isolate the
stem cells contained in the embryo and grow these stem cells in
culture to provide therapy for patients.” Fink points out,
“The cloning part comes in the future, if and when it is
determined that stem cells can rejuvenate diseased tissue. It
hasn’t happened yet.”
The Political Embryo series continues Thursday, March
6, at 7:30 pm with a panel discussion titled “In Utero:
Imaging and Imagining,” which will address artistic, scientific,
and political considerations in visual depictions of human embryos
and fetuses. Professor of Anthropology Lynn M. Morgan will moderate.
Panelists are Bradley Richard Smith, associate professor and director,
biomedical visualization, School of Art and Design, and senior
associate research scientist, Department of Radiology, University
of Michigan; Scott F. Gilbert, Howard A. Schneiderman Professor
of Biology, Swarthmore College; and photographer Rosamond Wolff
Purcell.
On Thursday, March 27, at 7:30 pm, a panel of experts will discuss,
“Who Decides? Reproductive Technologies, Ethics, and the
Law.” Associate Professor of Chemistry Sean Decatur will
moderate as panelists debate the ethics of reproductive technologies
from historical, political, and legal standpoints. Panelists are
Daniel J. Kevles, Stanley Woodward Professor of History, Yale
University; Adrienne Asch, Henry R. Luce Professor in Biology,
Ethics, and the Politics of Human Reproduction, Wellesley College;
and Rebecca Susan Dresser, Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law,
Washington University.
On Thursday, April
17, at 7:30 pm, Gina Kolata, science reporter for the New
York Times, will present a lecture titled “Reporting
on the Embryo.” In conjunction with the Weissman Center
series, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum will present the
exhibition Suspended Animation: Photographs by Rosamond Wolff
Purcell, through March 14. A gallery talk will take place
March 6 at 4 pm.
Karen Remmler, codirector of the Weissman Center, says that the
purpose of the series is to “take these technologies out
of the science-fiction realm, make them less sensationalist, and
address the anxiety that surrounds what this science is capable
of producing. We want people to be able to make informed decisions
about the regulation and application of this technology, to be
able to participate intelligently in public policy decisions.
One way to do that is to exchange ideas with scientists, scholars,
and artists who are directly involved in these issues.”
All events in the series, which is cosponsored by the class of
1958 and the Katherine B. Fitzgerald Lecture Fund, take place
in Gamble
Auditorium.
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