Stanford Report, February 18, 2004

HANK GREELY, THE C. WENDELL and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law, commented on the ethical implications of news announced Feb. 12 in the journal Science that, for the first time, South Korean scientists have cloned a human embryo and grown it to the stage at which its stem cells could be harvested for transplants. The research findings could lead to cures for Parkinson's disease, but it also brings science one step closer to creating a cloned baby, the San Jose Mercury News reported. "If it can be replicated elsewhere, it means that we've taken a big step toward creating cells that match the DNA of a person who needs cell therapy, avoiding rejection problems," said Greely, a chair of Stanford's Center for Biomedical Ethics. "The other side is this: It might be possible to make a baby this way." The federal government has banned funding for embryonic stem-cell research in the United States. A human cloning prohibition bill, which is now before the Senate, would punish anyone using this approach with up to 10 years in prison and a minimum fine of $1 million.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S proposed budget for overall spending on weapons activities jumps from $6.2 billion in fiscal 2004 to $6.6 billion in 2005 and $7.5 billion in fiscal 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Feb. 11. The increases are expected to finance a major revitalization of the country's nuclear weapons manufacturing complex, as well as research into developing a new generation of warheads. But it also reduces spending for nonproliferation and verification research, and international nuclear material protection and cooperation. SIDNEY DRELL, physics professor emeritus at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and a high-level nuclear weapons expert, questioned the administration's priorities. "The most important game in town is to strengthen the nonproliferation regime, every part of it," he said. "We certainly don't do that by saying, as the budget does, that we need new nuclear weapons for limited missions and increasing that spending. We have to reduce our reliance on nuclear weapons."

WHEN THE GEORGE MARK Children's House opens its doors in San Leandro next month, it will become the only independent site in the country to provide medical child care and end-of-life management for dying children. Associate Professor BARBARA SOURKES, director of the pediatric palliative care program at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, said the house will address America's "invisible families," the New York Times reported Feb. 10. "These are families who have a child with a neurodegenerative disease from birth and who live well into their teens," Sourkes said. "They need total physical care. And many families are dealing with years and years with no break at home." Children who are not expected to live beyond age 19 are eligible to stay at the house.