http://www.stemcellfunding.org/fastaction/takeaction.asp

• Recent research in the area of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also known as therapeutic cloning, has shown that a patient's own genetic material could be used to develop stem cell therapies specifically tailored to that individual's medical condition, thus avoiding an immune rejection response.

• Your Senators will soon be deciding whether or not to ban this kind of research altogether, both for human reproductive and for therapeutic purposes. Imposing a ban on SCNT would:
• Jeopardize research vital to helping those with disabling and deadly conditions
• Prohibit the importation of therapies derived from SCNT in other countries
• Criminalize the research or the researchers

• Given the strong scientific potential in this area, CAMR firmly opposes any legislative or regulatory action that would ban research related to SCNT for therapeutic reasons. Your voice is needed now! Please write to your Senator to ensure that this life-saving research be allowed to move forward. It only takes three easy steps.

I am writing to voice my support for protecting somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also known as therapeutic cloning, which may prove to be a vital tool in allowing scientists to fully develop the promise of embryonic stem cell research.

Stem cells derived from embryos have unique potential to improve the nearly 100 million lives of those Americans who suffer from devastating diseases and conditions, including juvenile diabetes, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cancer and spinal cord injury. SCNT allows a patient’s own genetic material to be used to develop advanced stem cell therapies. These therapies – including transplants and transfusions – would be tailored to match each patient's specific medical condition and dramatically reduce the possibility of causing the patient's immune system to attack and reject the therapy.

The nation’s leading scientists, including two prestigious committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association of the Advancement of Science, agree that cloning to reproduce humans should be illegal, but that SCNT technology should be permitted.

Given the enormous scientific potential in this area, I ask you to defeat any legislative or regulatory action that would ban research related to SCNT, including S. 1899, authored by Senator Sam Brownback. In contrast, I urge you to support Senator Dianne Feinstein’s legislation, S. 1758, and Senator Tom Harkin’s legislation, S. 1893 – both of these bills would prohibit human reproductive cloning while preserving important areas of medical research.

The men, women, and children who are suffering from life-threatening diseases are engaged in a race against time. It is our responsibility to make sure that they benefit as quickly as possible from the very best that science and technology has to offer.

I look forward to your support.
 
As an advocate for curing devastating diseases that touch virtually every American, you can help ensure that funding remains available for stem cell research. All you need to do is enter the following information, and the above letter will be automatically faxed to your Senators. If you prefer, you may also print out your letters and mail them to your elected officials.

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Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research
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