Bass, Bradley Support New Stem Cell Bill
By Tim Heaney
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 -Representatives Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley announced their co-sponsorship yesterday of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which would expand the number of eligible embryonic stem cells available for federal research funding.
“The legislation introduced today is crucial to our community because it would lift some of these restrictions and pave the way for medical breakthroughs for many debilitating, painful and deadly diseases,” Bass said in a statement.
The bill was introduced by Representatives Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and would place tighter limits on the collection of embryos, allow donations of excess lines from in vitro fertilization clinics with patients’ consent and prevent destruction of embryo samples.
The bill, which has 157 co-sponsors, would loosen a previous limit on federal spending for embryonic stem cell research to the number of stem cell lines available before August 9, 2001, when President Bush imposed a moratorium on federal funds for new cell lines.
Lines are strings of stem cells that have been manipulated to grow and replenish themselves without developing into more mature cell types. Before Bush instituted his moratorium, there were 78 lines of stem cells available for federal research funds. The National Institutes of Health currently lists only 22 lines.
“This legislation will give federal researchers access to other available stem cell lines, enabling them to conduct research on a variety of incurable medical ailments, such as juvenile diabetes, paralysis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, as well as many others,” Bradley said in a statement.
According to Bass spokeswoman Margo Shideler, Bass stresses the need for exploration of new developments in the field of embryonic stem cell research under stricter ethical guidelines.
“The global community has seen its potential, and the policy needs to be reevaluated so that the process can move ahead,” Shideler said.
Castle introduced a bill in the last Congress that would have prohibited human cloning while urging additional stem cell research under tighter and more organized control. The bill failed to advance beyond the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Senator Judd Gregg’s office issued a statement Wednesday saying that he believes that no expansion of embryonic stem cell study is necessary and agrees with the National Institutes of Health’s policy of limiting the supply.
“Senator Gregg believes that e mbryonic stem cell research is an exciting new field of science that continues to develop and has the potential to lead to real benefits as we fight a variety of diseases,” Gregg spokesman Jeff Turcotte said. “However, it is also an area that raises serious ethical issues since living embryos must be destroyed in order to pursue embryonic stem cell research.”
Embryonic stem cells are primitive body cells collected from human embryos that can mutate into any cell type in the body. Researchers hope they will ultimately be able to use embryonic stem cells for human tissue replacement.
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