The University administration has come out against a bill banning all forms of human cloning that the House of Representatives approved Thursday.
The bill, which requires Senate approval, would criminalize cloning human cells for medical research and for creating cloned babies. It also includes provisions for punishing people who import or are implanted with cloned cells overseas. Punishments include up to $1 million and 10 years in prison.
"I was, needless to say, disappointed by the House vote," President Tilghman said in an email responding to a reporter's query. "The vote has no impact for now, as it requires passage through the Senate. I am hoping that the Senate will take a different position. They have done so in the past."
It is unclear what the effects of the bill would be on University research if it became law.
No form of cloning takes place at the University's genetics facility, said Susan Powell, the assistant director of the Lewis Siegler Institute for Integrative Genomics.
She added that she does not think human genetic cloning takes place in the biology department. Thomas Shenk, the department's chair, could not be reached yesterday.
Ramifications
University officials are keeping an eye on the bill and have supported keeping cloning research legal while banning cloning to create human babies, called reproductive cloning.
The University supports a House bill, defeated Thursday, which would permit human cloning only for medical research. It is taking its position through the American Association of Universities, said Diana Auer Jones, the University's representative to the government. She said the University does not lobby on its own.
Professor Lee Silver, who specializes in biology at the Wilson School, predicted the Senate would not pass the bill.
"I suspect the Senate will filibuster again," Silver said. Sixty votes are needed to break a filibuster. "The end political result will be that there is nothing to stop reproductive cloning in this country."
No law currently bans cloning.
Professor Robert George, who sits on a bioethics advisory group to President Bush, said the new Republican leadership in the Senate may accelerate consideration of the bill, though he said a war with Iraq may distract the country's attention from the issue right now.
The University's case
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal last week, Tilghman and David Baltimore, the president of California Institute of Technology, argued the benefits of cloning human genetic material for research purposes.
"This has enormous potential for generating treatments for incurable diseases," they wrote. "Deriving stem cells in this way allows the replacement of diseased tissues with healthy ones that should not be rejected by the body as foreign."
Auer Jones said this bill would not likely have major effects on the University, but said that research institutions, especially medical schools, could be gravely affected, noting that some may move their laboratories overseas.
"There are all kinds of technologies that get developed through these methods that are useful in other ways [than cloning]," Jones said of the possible indirect effects on the University. "I think any time you ban research you put barriers in the way of advancing society."
Professor Silver suggested that part of the motive for banning both reproductive and research cloning was to make the bill part of a Republican "pro-life agenda."
Not including the research element "would take the steam out of their agenda," he said.
Overwhelming support
But 42 Democrats voted for the House bill. The Democrats joined 198 Republicans for a total of 241 in favor of the bill, with 155 opposing.
The Princeton area's congressman, Democrat Rush Holt, voted against.
Professor George said a problem with the argument for just banning reproductive cloning and not research is that it doesn't ban creating embryos, but "makes it illegal to do anything other than discarding the embryo."
Embryos already created, he explained, would have to be thrown out because they couldn't be implanted in women.
He also said there are profound moral arguments that a human embryo is a human being and should not be used for medical testing or cloning and "using his body parts for research purposes."
The Frist factor
The University is at odds on this issue with one of its most public alumni, Sen. Bill Frist '74, R-Tenn.
Frist, who received the University's distinguished alumnus award late last month, supports banning both forms of cloning.
As a doctor and the new Senate majority leader, Frist will play a pivotal role in deciding how the Senate handles the House bill.
Tilghman said she hopes he will "change his view on the matter."
The University has not met with him yet to discuss it, according to Jones.
Another president's view
Bush supported the House vote, saying the "resounding bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives demonstrates concern for the profound moral and social issues posed by human cloning."
"We must advance the promise and cause of medical science, including through ethical stem cell research, yet we must do so in ways that respect human dignity and help build a culture of life," he said.
The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 was sponsored by Dave Weldon, R-FL, and Bart Stupak, D-MI.
Read More
Community Care Day demonstrates U.’s focus on campus well-being, students say at third annual event
Gus VogelThe third annual Community Care Day on Friday offered a day of recreational, wellness, and educational activities across campus to support student well-being.
The third annual Community Care Day on Friday offered a day of recreational, wellness, and educational activities across campus to support student well-being.
USG agrees to draft a resolution on dining change, discusses mental health survey and club selectivity
Ambre Van de Velde and Nika SchindlerAt the weekly USG meeting, student senators discussed the introduction of a new mental health survey for international students, changes to student group selectivity processes, and a resolution to be submitted to the University addressing student concerns around the dining changes.
At the weekly USG meeting, student senators discussed the introduction of a new mental health survey for international students, changes to student group selectivity processes, and a resolution to be submitted to the University addressing student concerns around the dining changes.
Art museum galleries and pavilions dedicated to alumni donors
Victoria Davies and Nora LinssenThe Office of Advancement announced the dedication of 15 galleries and three pavilions ahead of the grand opening of the Princeton University Art Museum.
The Office of Advancement announced the dedication of 15 galleries and three pavilions ahead of the grand opening of the Princeton University Art Museum.