Bernard Siegel (attorney)

Last updated

Bernard Siegel is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Regenerative Medicine Foundation (formerly The Genetics Policy Institute) based in Wellington, Florida. [1] [2]

A graduate of the University of Miami undergraduate and law, he is an attorney and member of the Florida Bar since 1975. He is best known for filing the landmark 2002 case seeking a guardian for the world’s first alleged human clone, "Baby Eve."

The case has been widely credited for exposing Clonaid, the so-called "human cloning company" as a sham. Clonaid presented itself as the scientific research laboratory of a Canadian-based religious group called the Räelian Movement. The Räelians believe that cloning technology is a gift that will provide human immortality, brought to earth by extraterrestrials. They have collected large sums of money from at least one couple, allegedly to provide them with a child cloned from one of the parents’ DNA. The legal hearings brought about by Siegel exposed the cult’s lack of credibility when they failed to produce an allegedly cloned child for the purpose of DNA testing, which would have proven whether or not the child was a clone.

However, the case was the subject of intense international media attention because it shined a spotlight on the cloning issue and the emerging and enormously promising field of stem cell research. It was also the catalyst for Siegel to trade in his 30-year courtroom career to found the Genetics Policy Institute (now called the Regenerative Medicine Foundation). The Regenerative Medicine Foundation is now a world leader in supporting the global cause of stem cell research by promoting sound, ethical research within a framework of supportive public policy. The institute does this through public education initiatives, meetings among experts and activists, its comprehensive website and published information, and sponsorship of the Student Society for Stem Cell Research. In only three years’ time, the SSSCR has grown into an education and advocacy organization having a presence in 15 countries, 35 states, 100 institutions and more than 25 active chapters at universities around the country.

Since the 2002 legal case, Siegel has become a recognized policy expert relating to stem cell research, regenerative medicine and human cloning. He has appeared as an expert on the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CNN, CNN International, MSNBC, and network news shows throughout the U.S. and the world. He has been profiled on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and has been quoted in The New York Times , The Washington Post , The Boston Globe , The Times , Le Monde , Pravda , People's Daily and other publications throughout the U.S. and the world. Siegel gives frequent lectures on stem cells and public policy, speaking before the United Nations, international and U.S.-based biotechnology groups, and at numerous colleges and universities.

In both 2003 and 2004, Siegel played a pivotal role in protecting a form of stem cell research in the United Nations, which was under the threat of being banned by world treaty. In 2003, he brought some of the world’s most prominent stem cell research scientists together at a meeting at the U.N. to educate delegates about the need to ban human reproductive cloning (the cloning of a whole person) while keeping nuclear transfer research (for the cloning of stem cells) legal throughout the world. That very year, the U.N. avoided the passage of a treaty that would have banned nuclear transfer research worldwide by a single vote. In 2004, the treaty was downgraded to a nonbinding resolution that left the matter of whether or not to allow nuclear transfer up to the various nations.

Siegel’s work has been profiled in two books on stem cell research. Ian Wilmut described Mr. Siegel as an “unsung hero” in his book, After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Human Cloning. Siegel’s exploits in court versus the Räelians and in leading the battle to save stem cell research in the United Nations are the subject of an entire chapter, called “The Battle for Hearts and Minds,” in "Stem Cell Wars: Inside Stories from the Frontlines" by Eve Herold (who is herself an official with the Genetics Policy Institute). [3]

Related Research Articles

Human cloning Creation of a genetically identical copy of a human

Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. The possibility of person cloning has raised controversies. These ethical concerns have prompted several nations to pass laws regarding human cloning and its legality.

Clonaid Human cloning organization

Clonaid is a Canadian-based human cloning organization, registered as a company in the Bahamas. Founded in 1997, it has philosophical ties with the UFO religion Raëlism, which sees cloning as the first step in achieving immortality. On December 27, 2002, Clonaid's chief executive, Brigitte Boisselier, claimed that a baby clone, named Eve, was born. Media coverage of the claim sparked serious criticism and ethical debate that lasted more than a year. Florida attorney Bernard Siegel tried to appoint a special guardian for Eve and threatened to sue Clonaid, because he was afraid that the child might be treated like a lab rat. Siegel, who heard the company's actual name was not Clonaid, decided that the Clonaid project was a sham. Bioethicist Clara Alto condemned Clonaid for premature human experimentation and noted the high incidence of malformations and thousands of fetal deaths in animal cloning.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer Method of creating a cloned embryo by replacing the egg nucleus with a body cell nucleus

In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking an enucleated oocyte and implanting a donor nucleus from a somatic (body) cell. It is used in both therapeutic and reproductive cloning. In 1996, Dolly the sheep became famous for being the first successful case of the reproductive cloning of a mammal. In January 2018, a team of scientists in Shanghai announced the successful cloning of two female crab-eating macaques from fetal nuclei.

S1909/A2840 is a bill that was passed by the New Jersey Legislature in December 2003, and signed into law by Governor James McGreevey on January 4, 2004, that permits human cloning for the purpose of developing and harvesting human stem cells. Specifically, it legalizes the process of cloning a human embryo, and implanting the clone into a womb, provided that the clone is then aborted and used for medical research. The legislation was sponsored by Senators Richard Codey (D-Essex) and Barbara Buono, and Assembly members Neil M. Cohen (D-Union), John F. McKeon, Mims Hackett (D-Essex), and Joan M. Quigley (D-Hudson). The enactment of this law will enable researchers to find cures for debilitating and deadly diseases.

Michael D. West

Michael D. West is a biogerontologist, and a pioneer in stem cells, cellular aging and telomerase. He is the founder and CEO of AgeX Therapeutics, a startup focused on the field of experimental gerontology.

2004 California Proposition 71 California law

Proposition 71 of 2004 is a law enacted by California voters to support stem cell research in the state. It was proposed by means of the initiative process and approved in the 2004 state elections on November 2. The Act amended both the Constitution of California and the Health and Safety Code.

Gerald Schatten is an American stem cell researcher with interests in cell, developmental, and reproductive biology. He is Professor and Vice-Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is also Director of the Division of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine at the university's School of Medicine. Additionally, he is Deputy Director of the Magee-Womens Research Institute and Director of the Pittsburgh Development Center.

Gregory Stock is a biophysicist, best-selling author, biotech entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA’s School of Medicine. His interests lie in the scientific and evolutionary as well as ethical, social and political implications of today's revolutions in the life sciences and in information technology and computers.

Lori Andrews

Lori B. Andrews is an American professor of law. She is on the faculty of Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law and serves as Director of IIT's Institute for Science, Law, and Technology. In 2002, she was a visiting professor at Princeton University. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Yale College and her J.D. from Yale Law School. Andrews is a Fellow of the Hastings Center.

Rudolf Jaenisch

Rudolf Jaenisch is a Professor of Biology at MIT and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He is a pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisch has focused on creating genetically modified mice to study cancer and neurological diseases.

Rosario Isasi is a health and human rights attorney, whose research and work focuses on the regulation of human genetic technologies.

The Center for Genetics and Society (CGS) is a nonprofit information and public affairs organization, based in Berkeley, California, United States. It encourages responsible use and regulation of new human genetic and reproductive technologies.

Stem cell research policy varies significantly throughout the world. There are overlapping jurisdictions of international organizations, nations, and states or provinces. Some government policies determine what is allowed versus prohibited, whereas others outline what research can be publicly financed. Of course, all practices not prohibited are implicitly permitted. Some organizations have issued recommended guidelines for how stem cell research is to be conducted.

Alan Osborne Trounson is an Australian embryologist with expertise in stem cell research. Trounson was the President of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine between 2007 and 2014, a former Professor of Stem Cell Sciences and the Director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at Monash University, and retains the title of Emeritus Professor.

Raëlian beliefs and practices

Raëlian beliefs and practices are the concepts and principles of Raëlism, a new religious movement and UFO religion founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, a former French auto racing journalist who changed his name to "Raël". The followers of the International Raëlian Movement believe in an advanced species of extraterrestrial aliens called Elohim who created life on Earth. Raëlians are individualists who believe in sexual self-determination. As advocates of the universal ethic and world peace, they believe the world would be better if geniuses had an exclusive right to govern in what Rael terms Geniocracy. As believers of life in outer space, they hope that human scientists will follow the path of the Elohim by achieving space travel through the cosmos and creating life on other planets. As believers in the resurrection of Jesus Christ through a scientific cloning process by the Elohim, they encourage scientific research to extend life through cloning, however critics outside are doubtful of its possibility.

Royan Institute is an Iranian clinical, research and educational institute dedicated to biomedical, translational and clinical researches, stem cell research and infertility treatment. It is a public non-profitable organization affiliated to Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research. It was established in 1991 by the late Dr. Saeid Kazemi Ashtiani as a research institute for Reproductive Biomedicine and infertility treatments. In 1998 this institute was approved by Ministry of Health as Cell Based Research Center with over 46 scientific members and 186 lab technicians.

Stem cell laws are the law rules, and policy governance concerning the sources, research, and uses in treatment of stem cells in humans. These laws have been the source of much controversy and vary significantly by country. In the European Union, stem cell research using the human embryo is permitted in Sweden, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Greece, Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands; however, it is illegal in Canada, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal. The issue has similarly divided the United States, with several states enforcing a complete ban and others giving support. Elsewhere, Japan, India, Iran, Israel, South Korea, China, and Australia are supportive. However, New Zealand, most of Africa, and most of South America are restrictive.

Stem cell laws and policy in the United States have had a complicated legal and political history.

HumGen.org is the website of the Centre for Genomics and Policy, which is affiliated with McGill University and the Génome Québec Innovation Centre in Canada. The Centre was launched to respond to the urgent need for informed public policy and analyses on socio-ethical issues related to human genetics research at the international, national, and provincial levels. The HumGen website provides policy makers and the public access to policy statements concerning genetic research.

The United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning was a nonbinding statement against all forms of human cloning approved by a divided UN General Assembly.

References

  1. ↑ Svendsen, Clive; Ebert, Allison D. (January 2008). Encyclopedia of stem cell research. SAGE. p. 222. ISBN   978-1-4129-5908-7 . Retrieved 25 March 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ↑ Cain, Carol (September 11, 2010). "Stem cell summit to make a case for more research". Detroit Free Press . Retrieved 25 March 2011.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. ↑ "U.S. leads world in much more than technology". The Palm Beach Post. October 30, 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2012.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.