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Questions asked in this forum: Does this research place the role of God into question? Doesn't the benefits of embryo research outweigh any harm to the embryos? Does embryos have "human rights"? Should their be exceptions to the Congressional ban on human embryo research? Why did Congress overrule an NIH panel when they banned human embryo research? Additional Comments from Viewers. NewsHour Links March 10, 1997: Dr. Neal First of the University of Wisconsin and Dr. John Fletcher of the University of Virginia answer your questions about cloning. February 24, 1997:   A background report on the cloning of sheep in Scotland.  February 24, 1997:   A technical discussion on the science of genetic engineering.  February 24, 1997:   A discussion on the ethics of genetic engineering and cloning mammals.  April 3, 1996:   Fred De Sam Lazaro reports on scientific advances in genetic research and the ethical questions they raise.  OUTSIDE LINKS The Genetics and Public Issues Program at The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) discusses cloning.  Discussion of Ethics and Social Issues in Gene Research at the Human Genome Project.  Browse the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics home page.

The battle over a ban that prohibits federal money for human embryo research has been fought in a gray area between two potentials. One is the potential of human embryo research to unlock the secrets of infertility and a number of crippling genetic diseases, and the other is the potential of an embryo to become a fully-functioning human. One scientist, Dr. Mark Hughes, recently found himself caught in that gray area. Dr. Hughes left his post as director of Georgetown University's Institute for Molecular and Human Genetics in January, 1997, after the National Institutes of Health and the University said he violated both federal and Catholic church regulations while conducting research on human embryos. Hughes was developing tests at a hospital outside Washington, D.C., that would make it possible to detect genetic diseases such as Tay Sachs in embryos meant to be implanted into women's uteruses. Some, especially pro-life advocates, objected to the research because embryos possessing genetic defects would be destroyed, which they equate with the destruction of a human life. Congress banned such research in 1995, after a 1994 NIH Bioethics Committee -- a committee Hughes sat on -- drafted human embryo research guidelines that would have permitted Hughes' work. Congress has also become interested in Hughes' work. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) announced that the committee he chairs, the House Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, will investigate the Hughes case and has asked the NIH for all related documents. While Hughes told The Washington Post that he regretted his decision to use NIH resources in his research, he had no regret about the research itself. "We're talking about patients at enormous genetic risk who are mostly opposed to abortion and are looking for an alternative to throwing the genetic dice and having amniocentesis at 15 weeks to see if they have a baby with Tay Sachs disease or something," he told the Post. Opponents of the ban also say important research into conception, fertility and new contraceptive techniques are being held up. But supporters of the ban point to the troubling story of a University of California fertility specialist giving a University of Wisconsin researcher embryos from his lab without the knowledge of the couples who created the embryos. Supporters of the ban also point to the possibility of human embryos being created specifically for research. Such research, they contend, cheapens human life, and recent advances in cloning raises even more ethical questions. Our forum asks: Should the ban on federally-funded human embryo research be continued? Does the ban prevent potentially life-saving research to proceed? Does it protect or endanger human life? Were Dr. Hughes and other researchers correct in conducting this research? Your questions are answered by Dr. Mark Hughes, formally of Georgetown University's Institute for Molecular and Human Genetics, and Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director for the Secretariat for Pro-life Activities, National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Questions asked in this forum: Does this research place the role of God into question? Doesn't the benefits of embryo research outweigh any harm to the embryos? Does embryos have "human rights"? Should their be exceptions to the Congressional ban on human embryo research? Why did Congress overrule an NIH panel when they banned human embryo research? Additional Comments from Viewers.

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