Bruce Alberts questions Bioethics Council

US National Academy of Sciences president Bruce Alberts this week questioned the way the President's Council on Bioethics is proceeding in its advisory role. Alberts thinks that PCB chairman Leon Kass, a professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago, is tainting the credibility of the Council by espousing his strong personal views outside of Council deliberations, particularly on the matter of cloning. "The commission is not supposed to be taking a position but presenting serious analysis to the President," Alberts told The Scientist. Alberts is particularly concerned about comments made by Kass in a January Op-Ed article. In it, Kass called for a ban on both reproductive and therapeutic cloning, claiming the two cannot and should not be distinguished. (L. Kass, "How One Clone Leads to Another," The New York Times, A23, Jan. 24, 2003). Alberts' remarks came during the recent annual conference of the American Institute for Biological Sciences, whose theme this year was "Bioethics in a Changing World." President Bush created the PCB, which first convened in January 2002, to explore controversial bioethical issues, cloning in particular. "The image of the Council has been severely damaged" by Kass's use of such a public forum to espouse his views, Alberts said. "These panels are important" and the Council should not be a "political entity," he added. Kass has also testified before Congress on the matter of cloning, including a March 19 appearance before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Kass declined to comment on Alberts' criticism. According to a PCB spokesperson, all members, including the chairman, are allowed to espouse their own views in the venue of their choosing as long as they make clear when they're speaking on behalf of the Council. At the Council's inaugural meeting on January 17, 2002, Kass made clear that "no one should be writing or speaking in the name of the Council unless designated to do so." In his recent Senate testimony, Kass did clearly state that he was not speaking on behalf of the Council; in his Times commentary, Kass didn't specify whom he was representing, but identified himself as chair of the PCB.In February 2002, Kass told The Scientist, "I have these personal views, and I'm not going to erase them. But as chairman, I am not an advocate." Some criticized Kass and the Council at its inception, worried that its composition was too conservative. "It's not an easy question," said Council member Janet Rowley, a professor of medicine, molecular genetics and cell biology, and human genetics at the University of Chicago. According to Rowley, some on the Council espouse frequent public comment, others, like her, are more cautious. "I have recommended caution because I don't know that much is gained by getting into a public shouting match," said Rowley. "But then to leave the impression that we're not vocal because we agree with everything that Leon says is of course a false impression as well." Rowley is one of a minority of seven members out of 17 who, in a Council report issued last summer, recommended allowing regulated cloning for the purposes of biomedical research.The Council this week put out a "call for comments" for its next area of inquiry: "regulation of the biotechnologies that touch the beginnings of human life, more specifically on those technologies and practices that exist at the intersection of assisted reproduction, embryo research, and human genetics." Kass told The Scientist via e-mail, "The Council …seeks to understand how these technologies and practices are currently regulated, by whom, for what purpose, and to what effect." He declined to say whether the Council will be revisiting the subject of cloning.

Bruce Alberts questions Bioethics Council

NAS president fears outspoken views of chairman Leon Kass are tainting its credibility

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