Media Advisory: Cloning Panel Discussion March 26

Randy Jirtle, Ph.D., director of the division of radiation and molecular oncology research at Duke University Medical Center, will be part of a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 26, titled "Therapeutic Versus Reproductive Cloning: Scientific Realities, Public Controversy."

The conference, which begins at 8:45 a.m. and lasts until noon, is free and open only to journalists. It will be held at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, 15 T.W. Alexander Drive in Research Triangle Park. Journalists can register online at http://www.ncabr.org/cloning_reg.htm.

Jirtle will explore the differences between therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Other speakers will be:

Kent Vrana, Ph.D., professor and director of graduate studies in the department of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, who will provide a historical overview of cloning research;

John Vandenburgh, Ph.D., chairman of the National Academy of Science Committee on Defining Science-Based Concerns Associated with the Products of Biotechnology and a professor in the department of zoology at North Carolina State University, who will discuss reproductive cloning in animals; and

Larry Churchill, Ph.D., a professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, who will examine the ethical and social considerations about cloning.

Tom Linden, the GlaxoWellcome Distinguished Professor of Medical Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communications, will moderate the forum.

The conference is designed to help journalists understand and cover the scientific and ethical issues surrounding therapeutic and productive cloning. It is sponsored by the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research and Research!America. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center is providing additional conference support.

Additional information can be found online at http://www.ncabr.org/cloning_home.htm.