White House backs anti-cloning bill

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson issued a statement endorsing anti-cloning legislation passed by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday (see BioCentury Extra, Tuesday July 24). The legislation, H.R. 2505, is opposed by the Biotechnology Industry Organization ( S*BIO) because it would prohibit therapeutic cloning and would prohibit importation of therapies derived from cloned human tissues or cells. Thompson said the committee "should be applauded for the action it took today to ban human cloning. The bill adopted puts Congress on the right track toward prohibiting the cloning of human beings by somatic cell nuclear transfer. The bill is consistent with the Administration's view that the use of this cloning technique to create an embryo for reproduction or for research should not be permitted." Thompson's remarks suggest that the administration could seek to impose prohibitions on the creation of human embryos for stem cell research. ...