http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/10/20/prl21020.htm

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES
Elections seen as turning point for stem cell studies
Leading researchers are worried what direction the new president will
take, as innovative techniques spark hope for cures without destroying
embryos.

By Kevin B. O'Reilly, AMNews staff. Oct. 20, 2008.

The next president will be faced with the question of whether to
overturn President Bush's 2001 executive order banning federal
research funding for new human embryonic stem cell lines.

Sens. Barack Obama (D, Ill.) and John McCain (R, Ariz.) have pledged
to overturn Bush's restrictions. But prominent supporters of embryonic
stem cell research have raised concerns about what they see as mixed
signals from the McCain campaign.

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Recent breakthroughs showing it is possible to develop pluripotent
stem cells -- ones that can develop into any of the body's fully
functional cells -- without destroying human embryos. This has
sharpened calls to steer clear of the days-old blastocysts.

Stem cell scientists at the World Stem Cell Summit in Madison, Wis.,
in September said all promising avenues of research should be pursued.
They questioned McCain's commitment to changing the Bush policy.

Ten years ago, James A. Thomson, PhD, led the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, research group that first reported successfully isolating
human embryonic stem cell lines. In a news conference at the summit,
he said he saw "a little water-muddying" from McCain on embryonic stem
cell funding. First came McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who
opposes embryonic stem cell research, as his running mate. Then, the
Republican Party revised its platform to call for a total ban on
research using embryos.

"Whoever gets elected, there will be a dramatic improvement over the
last eight years," Thomson said. "But I'm concerned about the shift
from Sen. McCain in the last couple of weeks."

In oral and written responses to questions in the Saddleback Civil
Forum in August and Science Debate 2008 in September, McCain said he
is "wildly optimistic" that new ways of developing pluripotent stem
cells without using embryos will render the debate "academic."

McCain is "trying to use a techno fix to escape the argument," said
bioethicist R. Alta Charo, a keynote speaker at the summit and
co-chair of the National Academies' Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Advisory Committee. "By signaling that he was going to say [embryonic
stem cell research] is not really a big deal anymore, it tells me that
if he gets enough pushback from the people that he needs to answer to
before or after election, he might change his mind."

The McCain campaign did not respond to AMNews requests for comment by
press time in early October. In late September, the campaign issued a
statement in response to an Obama radio ad airing in the Philadelphia
area charging that McCain "has stood in the way" of stem cell research.

"The fact is John McCain has been a champion for stem cell research,"
Sen. Arlen Specter (R, Pa.) said in the statement. "John McCain bucked
the majority of our party in standing strong with me in urging the
Bush administration to lift restrictions on stem cell research and
last year voted to overturn the Bush policy."

Opponents of embryonic stem cell research have pleaded their case
directly to McCain. J.C. Willke, MD, former president of the U.S.
National Right to Life Committee, said he has met with McCain several
times, most recently in August, to talk up the promise of stem cell
research that does not destroy embryos.

"The only way you get an embryonic stem cell is to kill a 5-day-old
human," said Dr. Willke, a retired obstetrician and family physician,
referring to the blastocysts used in research. "I'm not saying
[McCain] won't support embryonic stem cells, but it looks to me like
he's certainly hedging his bets on this and moving in our direction."
A fight at the state level

The top of the ticket is not the only place where the stem cell battle
is being waged. A Michigan ballot initiative seeks to overturn a state
law that threatens scientists who create new embryonic stem cell lines
with up to 10 years in prison and $10 million in fines. Stem cell
researchers see overturning the law as critical to maintaining
momentum in allowing research using embryos. Arkansas, North Dakota,
South Dakota and Louisiana have restrictions similar to Michigan's.
Eight states explicitly permit embryonic stem cell research.

A Michigan loss could mean "a swing of the pendulum back" toward
greater restrictions in other states, said Doug Engel, PhD, chair of
the University of Michigan Medical School's Dept. of Cell &
Developmental Biology.

David Doyle, a spokesman for Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted
Science & Experimentation, said the ballot initiative goes too far
because of a provision to "prohibit state and local laws that prevent,
restrict or discourage stem cell research, future therapies and cures."

Research developments also have shifted the debate. Late last year, a
team of Japanese scientists and Thomson's group in Wisconsin
simultaneously reported successfully reprogramming adult skin cells to
behave like embryonic stem cells.

These cells -- known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells
-- are "the future of stem cell research," Thomson said at the World
Stem Cell Summit.

Some argue iPS cells obviate the need to conduct embryonic research,
but Thomson said the technique would never have been developed without
access to embryos. He said it is too early to judge which cell lines
will be most effective in understanding and treating diseases.

"We've been spectacularly wrong about a lot of things in the last 10
years or so," he said. "The fundamental principle of science is to see
where we are wrong and change that worldview accordingly."

The AMA in 2003 adopted policy supporting "federal funding for
research involving human pluripotent stem cells."

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 
State, private stem cell funding

About 6%, or $186 million, of the National Institutes of Health stem
cell research spending since 2004 has funded science involving a small
number of human embryonic stem cell lines permitted under an executive
order of President Bush. Five leading private stem cell science firms
spent about $200 million on research and development last year, and
state governments and philanthropists have rushed to spend more.
Publicly available information does not always specify whether funding
is for stem cell science involving human embryos, though each state
below -- except Minnesota and Ohio -- allows such research.
Government
appropriations Philanthropic
donations
California $3 billion $100 million
Connecticut $100 million 0
Illinois $15 million 0
New Jersey $210.7 million 0
Maryland $38 million $158.5 million
New York $100 million $105 million
Massachusetts 0 $300 million
Minnesota $15 million 0
Missouri 0 $985 million
Ohio $27 million 0
Texas 0 $25 million
Washington 0 $17 million
Total $3.5 billion $1.7 billion

Sources: "Estimates of Funding for Various Diseases, Conditions,
Research Areas," National Institutes of Health, Feb. 5
(www.nih.gov/news/fundingresearchareas.htm); "Federalism By Necessity:
State and Private Support for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research,"
Rockefeller Institute of Government, Aug. 9, 2007
(www.rockinst.org/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=12064); "Public Stem
Cell Research Funding: Boon or Boondoggle?" Competitive Enterprise
Institute, September (www.cei.org/node/21108)

Back to top.
Copyright 2008 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

RELATED CONTENT  You may also be interested in:
Researchers urge pay for egg donors  Sept. 15
Campaign case report: What Obama and McCain pledge to do about the
health system  Sept. 1
Stem cell breakthrough uses skin cells rather than embryos  Dec. 10, 2007
Bush rejects second stem cell bill; veto override is unlikely  July 9,
2007
Election 2006: No veto-proof majority on stem cell funding  Nov. 27, 2006

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