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Randy
Jirtle, Ph.D., director of the division of radiation and
molecularoncology research at Duke University Medical Center,
will be part of apanel 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/.

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.