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Letter of Transmittal to the President 
Because this field and the current policy are so young, this 
report can be no more than an “update.” It summarizes some 
of the more interesting and significant developments since 
August 2001, both in the basic science and medical 
applications of stem cell research and in the related ethical, 
legal, and policy discussions. It does not attempt to be a 
definitive or comprehensive study of the whole topic. It 
contains no proposed guidelines and regulations, nor indeed 
any specific recommendations for public policy. Rather, it 
seeks to shed light on where we are now — ethically, legally, 
scientifically, and medically — ^in order that you, the Congress, 
and the nation may be better informed as we all consider 
where we should go in the future. 
The report has four basic aims, three of them the subjects of 
independent chapters devoted to their themes. 
First, we have sought to clarify and explain the current 
federal policy regarding stem cell research and to make clear 
the legal, ethical, and prudential foundations on which the 
policy rests: the desire to promote important biomedical 
research without endorsing, funding, or creating incentives for 
the future destruction of human embryos. We have also sought 
to describe how that policy is being implemented, especially 
by the National Institutes of Health. Many of these matters 
have not been well imderstood or accurately represented in 
public discussions since August 2001, and we hope that the 
clarifications introduced in this report will enable future 
discussions and debates to be better informed. 
Second, we have tried to provide an overview of the ethical 
and policy debates surroimding stem cell research in the past 
two years. As you already know quite well, these are 
immensely difficult and challenging matters, with the 
obligations owed to nascent human life pitted against the 
obligations to seek knowledge that might someday alleviate 
much human suffering. Not surprisingly, arguments continue 
PRE-PUBLICATION VERSION 
