CuresNow Endorses the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative
Posted on: Thursday, 15 December 2005, 21:00 CST
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- CuresNow, a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the rapid, responsible and ethical advancement of stem cell research, today announced its endorsement of the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.
The Initiative, a voter referendum measure expected to appear on the November 2006 state ballot, protects the right of Missouri patients to have their diseases and injuries treated with any federally-approved stem cell cures. It also ensures that Missouri medical institutions can conduct stem cell research allowed under federal law, and it creates ethical and safety guidelines for stem cell research -- including a strict ban on human cloning or any attempt to clone a human being.
"CuresNow is proud to support the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. We strongly believe in the freedom of ethical scientific pursuit and believe that continued research in early stem cell development is essential to finding cures and treatments for the diseases and injuries that affect nearly 130 million Americans today," said Jerry Zucker, co-founder of CuresNow. "Missouri patients, like all Americans, should have access to lifesaving stem cell cures," said Janet Zucker, President and co-founder of CuresNow. "To ban and criminalize access to the most promising types of stem cell research that have the potential to cure illnesses like diabetes, cancer, ALS, and Parkinson's is an injustice to all Americans."
The Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative was developed in response to repeated attempts by some Missouri politicians to pass state legislation that would ban and criminalize stem cell research involving Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) -- and prohibit Missouri patients from having access to future SCNT stem cell cures that are federally-approved for use in the United States.
SCNT is a new medical breakthrough that uses a patient's own cell and a donated, unfertilized human egg to create stem cells in a lab dish. These stem cells have the potential to turn into and regenerate any type of cell in the human body and will automatically match the patient's genetic make-up, thus avoiding the need for a genetic donor match. Medical researchers believe SCNT stem cells could provide cures for many currently incurable or common diseases and injuries, such as diabetes, Parkinson's, MS, cancer, heart disease, ALS, sickle cell disease and spinal cord injury.
The Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative will prevent the Missouri legislature from banning SCNT or any other type of stem cell research and cures allowed under federal law. It is the first state measure in the nation to clearly protect the right of patients to receive any stem cell cures allowed under federal law. It also ensures that Missouri medical institutions can provide and help find those cures. And, it resolves concerns that SCNT could be used to clone a human being by strictly banning human cloning or any attempt to clone a human being.
The initiative is sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, a broad-based coalition of concerned citizens and dozens of medical and patient organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, Christopher Reeve Foundation, Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (which represents more than 90 patient advocacy, disease and research organizations), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Parkinson's Action Network, Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Washington University in St. Louis.
CuresNow, comprised of leaders in the scientific, health, education, business, and entertainment communities, is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the rapid, responsible and ethical advancement of stem cell research. CuresNow was founded by two families whose children suffer from chronic illnesses, and includes families and friends of others affected by a variety of serious conditions.
More information on the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative is available online at http://www.missouricures.com/.
CuresNow
CONTACT: Noelle Gambill or Chad Griffin, both for CuresNow,+1-310-888-3523
Web site: http://www.missouricures.com/
Source: PRNewswire
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