US Republicans at Odds Over Human Embryo Research

Stem cells research divides McCain and his VP choice Monday, 01 September 2008 By changing one little word, the committee drafting the Republican 2008 election platform last week proposed banning all human embryo research in the United States, whether publicly or privately funded. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is under no obligation to follow the party platform — which is a statement of principle with no binding power — but the change highlights the already noticeable contrast between him and the official party position. Although his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, opposes human embryonic stem cell research, McCain has twice voted to loosen restrictions on federal funding of the work. On 27 August, the Republican Platform Committee approved an amendment by Mary Summa of North Carolina, one of its 100 or so delegates. It changed "and" to "or" so that the platform now calls for a ban on "the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research purposes" (emphasis added). The change is expected to win final approval during the Republican convention this week in St Paul, Minnesota. See more at: Republicans at odds over human embryo research Nature, 1 September 2008, doi:10.1038/455012a ......... ZenMaster

---

For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at http://cellnews-blog.blogspot.com/ and http://www.geocities.com/giantfideli/index.html

---