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After giving several examples from the medical journals of people who have had major cures from the stem cells in cord blood, he summarizes the situation like this:

And there is even more good news about umbilical cord blood stem cells: Unlike embryonic stem cells, UCB stem cells don't cause dangerous tumors. Moreover, they are easier to tissue-type to prevent rejection than are bone marrow stem cells. And here's another big plus: This research is utterly uncontroversial. No embryos are being cloned. No embryos are being destroyed.

The bipartisan Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act of 2005 (S. 1317) would create a national distribution system supported by about $175 million over five years. But, as Smith points out, the bill is in danger of getting bogged down in the Senate.

Science magazine carries an excellent portrait of one of the most influential members of the House of Representatives, Congressman Frank Wolf. Widely respected on both sides of the aisle, Mr. Wolf has been tireless in his support of human rights around the world. Science profiles him because he just happens to chair the committee in the House that funds the National Science Foundation. And it sees him as a champion of science, committed to raising educational standards in math and science here in the U.S. as well as pressing American leadership in the advance of science and technology.

What the profile does not discuss is the fact that Mr. Wolf has also been a strong supporter of efforts to ban all human cloning and to sustain President Bush's compromise on embryonic stem-cell research.

Wolf is a good example of the fact that we can be pro-science and pro-ethics, indeed, that the two go hand in hand.

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Previous Life Matters columns include:

Bioethics in Narnia? | C. S. Lewis was way ahead of the curve. (Nov. 30, 2005)

Inventing Ethics | A collaborator walks out on the South Korean cloning genius, citing ethical lapses. (Nov. 18, 2005)

The Killing Fields of Holland: Next It's the Kids | From the Netherlands to California, from stem cells to nanotechnology, how we treat life matters. (Nov. 9, 2005)

Nations United on Bioethics | But is anybody in the West reading the new declaration? (Oct. 19, 2005)

Dr. Frist's Dilemma | The Majority Leader's contradictions mirror the opinions of the public at large. (Oct. 11, 2005)

Cloning Still Haunts California | Remember Prop. 71? Stem-cell research supporters hope voters don't remember the promises they made. (Oct. 5, 2005)

Leon Kass, a Bioethics Legend, Steps Down | The man who led the President's Council on Bioethics brought protests from the industry and directed groundbreaking studies. (Sept. 21, 2005)

A Manufactured Womb of One's Own | The commodification of children and an admission of stem-cell hype. (Sept. 8, 2005)

The Stem-Cell Conspiracy | The Washington Post muddles a major breakthrough in adult stem-cell research, while the U.K. marches blindly on. (Aug. 29, 2005)

Britain Leads the (Wrong) Way | Embryos to be screened for cancer risk, "danger genes." (Aug. 17, 2005)

Brave New Puppy | Introducing our new life ethics weblog. (Aug. 10, 2005)

More CT articles on bioethics are available on our Life Ethics page.

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December (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49