Friday, March 7, 2003

CHAIRMAN KASS:The sessions this morning are devoted to the topic of professional self-regulations in the field of laboratory assisted reproduction. This is part of our project on the existing regulation of uses of biomedical technologies touching the beginnings of human life.

I just remind you we've embarked on this project partly growing out of suggestions in the cloning report, partly following up on our interest to see where in the existing system there is attention to the kind of ethical questions that concern this council, and we have decided to look at that intersection of assisted reproductive technologies, the growing knowledge of human genetics and work in developmental biology and embryo research.

We have in previous meetings looked at these issues as they are dealt with by IRBs. At a previous meeting we heard from representatives, from people commenting on the role of the FDA, and today at long last we have an opportunity to go to the center of the discussion, the profession and the industry surrounding this profession, which is at the center of this work, the people who work in the area of assisted reproductive technologies.