controversy throughout the halls of academe, and spurred politicians world wide to come to grips with the reality and potential of genetic engineering.

Now Bermudians will have a chance to debate the future of biotechnology with Dr. Keith Campbell, one of the researchers who earlier this year captured the world's attention with a sheep named Dolly -- the first mammal ever to be cloned from adult cells.

Formerly of Scotland's Roslin Institute and now with the biotech firm, PPL Therapeutics, based in Roanoke, Virginia, Dr. Campbell is one of the headliners at this year's Science and Technology in Action week, which kicked off yesterday and runs until October 17.

The nine-day science fair is sponsored by the Bermuda Association for the Advancement of Science and Technology (BAAST), and includes a series of lectures and a debate between students from the Berkeley Institute, Saltus, and Mount Saint Agnes schools.

Dr. Campbell is scheduled to lecture about his work on the Dolly project on October 17, at the Bermuda College, and will be on hand as the students debate the future of bio-technology.

Misunderstanding, fear and science fiction have gone a long way to defining how society up to now has confronted advances in genetic engineering, says Dr.

Campbell: "It does scare people, for sure. I'm personally dead against (cloning a human being) and even though I say it's not impossible, there's no medical reason to ever do it,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

"My interest right now is in genetically modified animals and how they can be used for the treatment of human diseases.'' PPL Therapeutics, he said, is pioneering a method to genetically modify sheep's milk by adding the specific protein found missing in those suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Future applications could see genetic engineers develop a purified human (fibrinogen) protein that would speed the healing of wounds, or possibly grow genetically modified pigs that would act as donors for human organs: "Medical science has extended the human lifespan, but sometimes the parts wear out. If it's possible to develop a universal donor for organs like the heart, lungs, or kidneys, think of the lives that would be saved. There are a bunch of companies working on this right now,'' he said.

Meanwhile those suffering disorders where cell populations are dying out -- such as Parkinson's disease or leukaemia -- could be treated by implants of genetically "purified'' specialised (somatic) cells.

"Right now we can grow cells but we can't grow organs; that requires a complex nutritional supply that we can't duplicate,'' he said.

And cloning organisms from a single cell -- a scenario right out of Jurassic Park -- remains in the realm of science fiction: "Right now we can only do this with cattle and sheep,'' he said, and while some dream of extending the technology to help save endangered species such as tigers or pandas, the science is a long way off, he said.

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