Monitoring Stem Cell Research
Table of Contents
The President's Council on Bioethics
Washington, D.C.
January 2004
www.bioethics.gov
Pre-Publication Version
Letter of Transmittal
The President's Council on Bioethics
1801 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20006
January 14, 2004
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President:
I am pleased to present to you Monitoring Stem Cell Research,
a report of the President's Council on Bioethics. Over the
past two years, in keeping with your stated intention, the
Council has been monitoring developments in stem cell research,
as it proceeds under the implementation of the administration's
policy. We have consulted widely, heard presentations, and
commissioned review essays (included as appendices in this
volume) on all aspects of the topic-scientific, ethical, and
legal. Our desire has been both to understand what is going
on in the laboratory and to consider for ourselves the various
arguments made in the ongoing debates about the ethics of
stem cell research and the wisdom of the current policy. Although
both the policy and the research are still in their infancy,
the Council is now ready to give you and the American people
an update on this important area of research.
Because this field and the current policy are so young,
this report can be no more than an "update." It summarizes
some of the more interesting and significant developments
since August 2001, both in the basic science and medical applications
of stem cell research and in the related ethical, legal, and
policy discussions. It does not attempt to be a definitive
or comprehensive study of the whole topic. It contains no
proposed guidelines and regulations, nor indeed any specific
recommendations for public policy. Rather, it seeks to shed
light on where we are now-ethically, legally, scientifically,
and medically-in order that you, the Congress, and the nation
may be better informed as we all consider where we should
go in the future.
The report has four basic aims, three of them the subjects
of independent chapters devoted to their themes.
First, we have sought to clarify and explain the current
federal policy regarding stem cell research and to make clear
the legal, ethical, and prudential foundations on which the
policy rests: the desire to promote important biomedical research
without endorsing, funding, or creating incentives for the
future destruction of human embryos. We have also sought to
describe how that policy is being implemented, especially
by the National Institutes of Health. Many of these matters
have not been well understood or accurately represented in
public discussions since August 2001, and we hope that the
clarifications introduced in this report will enable future
discussions and debates to be better informed.
Second, we have tried to provide an overview of the ethical
and policy debates surrounding stem cell research in the past
two years. As you already know quite well, these are immensely
difficult and challenging matters, with the obligations owed
to nascent human life pitted against the obligations to seek
knowledge that might someday alleviate much human suffering.
Not surprisingly, arguments continue on all aspects of the
moral and political debate. We have sought to present the
arguments and counter-arguments, faithfully and accurately,
so that all may learn what is at stake and where the debate
now stands.
Third, we have monitored recent scientific developments
in human stem cell research, embryonic and adult, basic and
applied. Our goal in the report is to enable (especially non-scientific)
readers to appreciate the reasons for the excitement over
stem cell research, the complexities of working with stem
cells, some early intriguing research and therapeutic findings,
and the difficult road that must be traveled before we can
reap therapeutic and other benefits from this potentially
highly fertile field of research.
The other three specific goals have been informed by a fourth
and overarching goal: to convey the moral and social importance
of the issue at hand and to demonstrate how people of different
backgrounds, ethical beliefs, and policy preferences can reason
together about it. We want everyone to understand that biomedical
research, being a human activity, must always be regarded
as a moral endeavor, to be governed not only by the goals
of gaining knowledge and relieving suffering, but also by
the obligation to safeguard the inherent freedom and dignity
of human life. Throughout the Council's deliberations and
in this monitoring report, Council members have tried to acknowledge
the strengths and importance of opinions and concerns held
by people with whom they disagree. We have aspired to be careful
and fair in our approach, precise in our use of language,
accurate in presenting data and arguments, and thoughtful
in our laying out of the various issues that remain before
us. Above all, we want all parties to these debates to understand
that their opponents, too, have something vital to defend,
not only for themselves but for all of us.
The policy debates over stem cell research that led you
to create this Council continue; they, and other debates on
related topics, are unlikely to go away any time soon. Our
hope is that our work will help to make those debates richer,
fairer, and better informed.
Mr. President, allow me to join my Council colleagues and
our fine staff in thanking you for this opportunity to offer
you and the American people what we hope is a useful and constructive
review of where things stand, both in the laboratory and in
the public arena, with regard to this promising and ethically
challenging area of research.
Sincerely,
Leon R. Kass, M.D.
Chairman
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