U.S. Doctors Group Endorses "Therapeutic Cloning"
In adopting the policy, the American Medical Association said such research was clearly consistent with medical ethics.
Doctors using stem cells derived from cloned embryos should have the "ethical latitude to pursue science," said Dr Michael Goldrich, chairman-elect of the AMA's council on ethical and judicial affairs. "The weight of opinion is clearly on the side of the promise of the therapeutic intervention for the benefit of patients."
The AMA, which with a quarter of a million members is the largest professional physician organization in the United States, supports a ban on cloning for the purpose of human reproduction.
But many in the medical and scientific communities see the emerging field of research cloning as one of the most promising in the search for therapies for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, juvenile diabetes and some neurological disorders.
The hope is that the stem cells derived from cloned embryos can be used in regenerative medicine to replace diseased or damaged tissue or genetically manipulated to deliver genes or proteins in gene therapy.
"Patient care is a paramount ethical obligation of physicians and in the absence of a significant moral objection ... then the latitude needs to be there to move the science forward," observed Goldrich at the AMA's annual policy meeting here.
Stem cells are immature cells that can grow into almost any cell of the body and thus have great potential as a therapy for tissue transplants.
The most versatile stem cells come from embryos in their early stages, which explains the controversy over their use.
Critics of cloning immediately condemned the AMA's move, saying it was a slippery slope to human cloning of the type that the controversial firm Clonaid claims to have performed.
"There is way to gently open the door to therapeutic cloning without opening the door to wholesale abuse," said the Catholic League in a statement. "What is the purpose of allowing research cloning if not to allow reproductive cloning?" The Catholic group also condemned any manipulation of a human embryo as "immoral."
"That others might benefit does not justify such a crass manipulation of the human species," it said.
U.S. president George W. Bush has come out against all types of cloning, although he has allowed taxpayer dollars to finance research on certain stem cell lines that existed prior to August 2001.
A bill which would impose a total ban on human cloning passed the U.S. House of Representatives in February but has not yet been taken up by the U.S. Senate.
Advocates of embryonic stem cell research argue that the bill, were it to pass, would slow down the search for cures for diseases that afflict millions of Americans.
The AMA maintains that its move is not political and it would be remiss of the organization to sit on the sidelines of the intense public debate over the issue.
"The AMA is not bucking the president. The AMA is giving guidance to physicians. For the profession to remain silent doesn't serve the public or the profession," AFP quoted Goldrich as saying.