Stem Cell Research Hearings
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S. HRG. 105±939 STEM CELL RESEARCH HEARINGS BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SPECIAL HEARING DECEMBER 2, 1998ÐWASHINGTON, DC JANUARY 12, 1999ÐWASHINGTON, DC JANUARY 26, 1999ÐWASHINGTON, DC Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 54±769 cc WASHINGTON : 1999 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0±16±058361±6 1 COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont SLADE GORTON, Washington DALE BUMPERS, Arkansas MITCH MCCONNELL, Kentucky FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey CONRAD BURNS, Montana TOM HARKIN, Iowa RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire HARRY REID, Nevada ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah HERB KOHL, Wisconsin BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado PATTY MURRAY, Washington LARRY CRAIG, Idaho BYRON DORGAN, North Dakota LAUCH FAIRCLOTH, North Carolina BARBARA BOXER, California KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas STEVEN J. CORTESE, Staff Director LISA SUTHERLAND, Deputy Staff Director JAMES H. ENGLISH, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi TOM HARKIN, Iowa SLADE GORTON, Washington ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire DALE BUMPERS, Arkansas LAUCH FAIRCLOTH, North Carolina HARRY REID, Nevada LARRY E. CRAIG, Idaho HERB KOHL, Wisconsin KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas PATTY MURRAY, Washington TED STEVENS, Alaska ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia (Ex officio) (Ex officio) Majority Professional Staff BETTILOU TAYLOR MARY DIETRICH Minority Professional Staff MARSHA SIMON Administrative Support JIM SOURWINE and JENNIFER STIEFEL (II) C O N T E N T S Page WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1998 Statement of Harold Varmus, M.D., Director, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services ...................................................... 1 Opening remarks of Senator Arlen Specter ........................................................... 1 Opening statement of Senator Tom Harkin .......................................................... 2 Prepared statement of Dr. Harold Varmus ........................................................... 8 Statement of John D. Gearhart, Ph.D., professor of gynecology and obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ................................................... 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 Statement of James Thomson, Ph.D., associate research animal veterinarian, Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center .................................................. 14 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 16 Statement of Michael West, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, Ad- vanced Cell Technology ........................................................................................ 19 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 20 Curing disease .......................................................................................................... 26 Parkinson's disease .................................................................................................. 27 Use of embryos ......................................................................................................... 28 Federal ban on research on human embryos ........................................................ 28 Treating age-related degenerative diseases ........................................................... 31 Cloning ...................................................................................................................... 31 Parkinson's disease .................................................................................................. 32 Diabetes .................................................................................................................... 33 Statement of Arthur L. Caplan, Ph.D., director, Center for Bioethics, Univer- sity of Pennsylvania ............................................................................................. 35 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 37 Statement of Richard M. Doerflinger, associate director for policy develop- ment, secretariat for pro-life activities, National Conference of Catholic Bishops .................................................................................................................. 42 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 44 Statement of Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., vice president of research and development, Geron Corp ............................................................................. 51 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 52 Statement of Eric Meslin, Ph.D., executive director, National Bioethics Advi- sory Commission .................................................................................................. 66 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 67 Fetus destruction ..................................................................................................... 68 Prepared statement of Daniel Perry, on behalf of the Alliance for Aging Research ................................................................................................................ 76 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1999 Statement of Maria Freire, Ph.D., Director, Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services .. 79 Opening remarks of Senator Arlen Specter ........................................................... 79 Technology transfer legislation ............................................................................... 80 Research tools .......................................................................................................... 81 Prepared statement of Maria Freire ...................................................................... 82 Statement of Q. Todd Dickinson, J.D., Acting Assistant Secretary of Com- merce, and Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, Department of Commerce ......................................................................................................... 85 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 87 (III) IV Page Remarks of Senator Tom Harkin ........................................................................... 91 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 93 Time constraints ...................................................................................................... 94 Statement of Lawrence Goldstein, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego ... 95 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 97 Statement of Doug Melton, Ph.D., representing the Juvenile Diabetes Associa- tion, Harvard University ..................................................................................... 98 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 100 Statement of Richard Pikunis, J.D., Parkinson's patient, Marlton, NJ .............. 102 Prepared statement of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, [BIO] ............ 104 Obtaining by ethical means .................................................................................... 108 Patentability of research tools ................................................................................ 110 Bayh-Dole Act .......................................................................................................... 110 University of Wisconsin research ........................................................................... 113 Bayh-Dole ................................................................................................................. 114 TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1999 Statement of Harold Varmus, M.D., Director, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services ...................................................... 117 Opening remarks of Senator Arlen Specter ........................................................... 117 Prepared Statement of Dr. Harold Varmus ........................................................... 121 Statement of Harriet Rabb, J.D., General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services ............................................................................................ 123 Remarks of Senator Tom Harkin ..........................................................................