, or the cloning of human embryos for any purpose. Finally, President Bush created the President's Council on Bioethics, chaired by Dr. Leon Kass (a biomedical ethicist at the University of Chicago) to study such issues as embryo and stem cell research, assisted reproduction, cloning, genetic screening, gene therapy, euthanasia, psychoactive drugs, and brain implants (NIH, 2008).
Gerard Elfstrom (2001) noted that powerful technology of this type inspires both hope and fear. Elfstrom made some important points about the differences and similarities between SCNT and reproductive cloning, to wit:
. SCNT does not seek to replicate a human being, but it
does draw upon embryonic stem cells for much of its
. SCNT is focused on palliative care and regeneration of
diseased, injured or damaged tissue and not on, for example, creating a human clone to be used by its original
donor as a source of "spare parts;"
. SCNT is not a deviation from the medical ethics of
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