N.J. Wins Praise For Stem-Cell Efforts
Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Kerry would eliminate U.S. restrictions

By MICHAEL SYMONS
Gannett State Bureau
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

A parade of scientists and stem-cell research advocates, including former Attorney
General Janet Reno, praised New Jersey officials Tuesday for supporting their
efforts, including state plans to build a New Brunswick research institute.

On the same day that Ron Reagan, the son of the former Republican president,
addressed the Democratic National Convention on the topic, Gov. James E.
McGreevey organized a forum on stem cells at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.

McGreevey and lawmakers who accompanied him to MIT - Rep. Rush Holt, D-
Hopewell, Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D-Roselle, and legislative leaders - were
treated as heroes in a session designed to pressure President Bush to drop limits
on research using embryonic cells.

"Placing federal restrictions on stem cell research literally amounts to erecting
roadblocks on the path to new solutions, new cures and new hope for these
families," said McGreevey. "Bluntly, America, our families, our medical community,
we cannot as a family afford the luxury of time and can ill-afford the debate."

In 2001, Bush put limits on embryonic stem cell research, which is opposed by
social conservatives who oppose the destruction of embryos that would be needed
to obtain cells. No federal money can be used to fund research if it uses any
embryonic cell lines beyond the 21 found to have existed when Bush announced his
decision.

"It makes no sense for us not to be doing that," said Reno, who was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease in 1995.

Reno said opponents are wrong when they say fetuses would be used in the work;
she said embryos that are going to thrown away eventually - hundreds of thousands
of them, some claim - are being used.

"Let us understand that: We are refusing to protect life because we are protecting
something that's going to be destroyed anyway," Reno said

Conservatives say the process of producing new embryonic stem cell lines, which
continues overseas and in private research in the United States, is akin to cloning.
Embryonic cells are engineered in an effort to reverse organ or spinal cord damage
or stop degenerative diseases.

More than 1 million Americans are already afflicted by the conditions - Alzheimer's,
Parkinsons, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis - scientists hope to treat with
stem cell approaches. Reno said the numbers will climb as baby boomers approach
retirement age.

Democrats see the issue as a winner for them. Presumptive presidential nominee
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., says he will reverse the federal restrictions if he's
elected, and a handful of speakers have cited the issue in speeches on the
FleetCenter floor in Boston.

None did so more prominently than Reagan who spoke about the promise of
medical research that could help people like his late father, who suffered from
Alzheimer's disease before dying last month at 93.

"A few of these folks, needless to say, are just grinding a political ax and they
should be ashamed of themselves. But many are well-meaning and sincere. Their
belief is just that, an article of faith, and they are entitled to it," Reagan said.

"But it does not follow that the theology of a few should be allowed to forestall the
health and well-being of the many," Reagan said. "And how can we affirm life if we
abandon those whose lives are so desperately at risk?"

Tricia Riccio, a stay-at-home mother of five from Warren Township, became a stem-
cell research activist after her 18-year-old son, Carl, was paralyzed from the
shoulders down after injuring his spinal cord in a 2003 wrestling match for
Watchung Hills Regional High School.

Last year, Riccio trekked to Trenton to lobby the Assembly to pass the state law
allowing stem-cell research. Tuesday she joined McGreevey in Cambridge to press
for federal changes.

"As the mother of a child with a currently incurable condition, I would like to ask our
country's political representatives at both the state and federal levels to put their
trust in the scientific community," Riccio said, drawing applause.

"There needs to be a balance in governing ethical guidelines and trust to bring our
country where it needs to be, which is at the forefront of this cutting-edge medicine,"
said Riccio, who said "millions of people who suffer daily" share her hope.

New Jersey put $9.5 million in its 2004-05 budget toward stem-cell research and is
planning to help build a new institute, which will be jointly operated by Rutgers
University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Few other states have taken efforts to try to attract stem-cell researchers. In
California, voters will be asked in November whether to approve $3 billion in bonds
to fund efforts to attract the industry. A push in Massachusetts stalled last year in its
legislature.

Scientists at the Tuesday forum said state efforts are nice but fall short, even if
companies fund the research themselves.

"These partnerships are not enough," said Ira Black, founding director of New
Jersey institute. "This cannot be done ultimately without the enthusiastic, committed
support of the federal government. We can make this so far, but it's going to require
a campaign that involves our entire society."

"Government has the public health as their interest. They act in the interest of the
public," said Peter Lansbury, a Parkinson's researcher at Brigham and Women's
Hospital in Cambridge. "No other players in this process do. Pharmaceutical
companies act in their own specific interests. They fund research based on the
prospects to boost their profit margin."

Still, Leonard Zon said New Jersey's efforts were a hot topic at a recent meeting of
the International Society of Stem Cell Reseachers, of which he is president. Though
California's effort would dwarf New Jersey's, he said the Garden State plans are
very significant.

"There are many, many more cell lines and genetic models, and all those can be
worked on with private philanthropy or state funds. Stem cell researchers in New
Jersey will be privileged and be able to do the studies on more lines," Zon said. "It
can really stimulate the field in that state, and I see that a number of other states
may try to follow suit."

SOURCE: Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m072804b.htm

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