"I believe that criminalizing this kind of work will cast a pall over this country's scientific efforts," said Gerald Fischbach, Colombia University dean and vice president for health and biomedical sciences.

The Senate is due to debate a bill already passed by the House to ban all forms of cloning and prohibit the use of internationally-developed therapies by US scientists that result from research on the building block cells that metamorphose into all tissue and organ cells in the body.

"I believe if this bill passes it will stand in the way of scientists and physicians to treat their patients with the best therapies available," said Fischbach, who represents a coalition of more than 60 universities, scientific societies and patients' organizations.

Fischbach and other lawmakers instead support an alternative piece of legislation to ban reproductive cloning, but allow therapeutic cloning -- or somatic cell nuclear transfer.

But Republican Representative Bart Stupak, who sponsored the House ban, told the Senate panel that "whatever your belief is about embryonic stem cell research, the fact is embryos are biological human entities."

"We need to consider all aspects of cloning, and not just what researchers tell us is beneficial. There is a legal, ethical, moral line we should not cross."

Hollywood actor Kevin Kline, the second movie star to appear before Congress this month to support SCNT research, also sounded off on the discussion that has deeply divided lawmakers along ideological lines.

Christopher Reeve, best known as the super-hero Superman before a tumble from a horse paralyzed him from the neck down, has also testified in Congress on behalf of therapeutic cloning, believing that the secrets to unlocking the mysteries of spinal cord injury could lie in the tiny cells.

"I implore you do not deny the rest of us access to the best medical technology available, or the fruits of the best medical research," said Kline, an advocate on behalf of juvenile diabetes -- among the legion of diseases that could be cured with stem-cell based therapies.

"And if the next miracle comes from Canada or England, Ireland, Scotland or Sweden, I want to be allowed to take my child there and not face imprisonment when we return."

British scientists last month received the go-ahead to clone human embryos for research, raising the prospect of Britain establishing the world's first bank of human stem cells as early as next year.

And Sweden, a world leader in stem cell research, favors cloning early-stage human embryos for therapeutic purposes and is preparing to change legislation to allow the practice, two ministers said in January.

All rights reserved. � 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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