BIO STATEMENT ON HOUSE CLONING BILL
"Today's vote against the use of cloning technology for therapeutic research is a step backwards, and if eventually enacted into law, will reverse progress toward new medical treatments. Potentially millions of patients afflicted with Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's, heart disease and various cancers will be affected.
"We now call upon the Senate to reflect more carefully on the potential medical benefits of this technology - and to separate the technology's therapeutic use from its use for human reproductive cloning, a concept the biotechnology industry finds to be repugnant and unsafe."
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.