Letter: Cloning has huge medical potential

Monday, May 13, 2002 | 8:46 a.m.

I am very disappointed with the priority certain bills have had, particularly, in the Senate. I'm aware that some things such as terrorism and possibly education may be a little more important to them at the moment. But sometimes I wish they would address more interesting issues, such as human cloning. That topic almost dropped out of radar after the House of Representatives banned any sort of cloning last year.

I believe that the implications of cloning technology would become one of the greatest steps mankind has taken since landing on the moon. With that technology, organ transplant patients would no longer have to worry about their organs being rejected because their transplants would be exact copies of their previously healthy organs.

Paralysis would be a curable condition as well, utilizing a similar technique to the creation of new organs from old tissue. Except in this case that material being copied would more likely be spinal tissue or nerve cells. Really, pretty much every condition we can contract, that requires a donor, of sorts, would be virtually eliminated because we would have the ability to have replacements created for us.

Even though there would probably be a great debate over the ethics of this issue, it doesn't mean this issue shouldn't be addressed. No one seems to be interested in new, possibly life-changing technology and that may be the reason the Senate has seemed to postpone hearing legislation on the topic. But maybe, just for our sake or the sake of changing the topic or mood of country right now, the Senate should talk about something besides terrorism. Just maybe.

JENNIFER RAPALO