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Congressional Battle Builds Over Stem Cells By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters)- 12 Feb 2000 - A battle is shaping up in Congress again over the issue of stem cells -- the elusive master cells that have the potential to become any kind of cell in the body at all. Lauded by some as holding the promise to transform medicine and biological research, they are being tested by scientists who want to use them as tissue transplants, as treatments for diseases such as diabetes and PARKINSON'S, and perhaps someday as a source of entire organs for transplant. Stem cells found circulating in the blood and in the bone marrow are already used to restore the blood and immune systems of people undergoing treatment for cancer and a few rare diseases. No one objects to using these. But there are other sources of stem cells, notably embryos left over from fertility treatments, and these are the cause of friction. Although they are routinely destroyed once parents have conceived all the children they want, many consider the embryos to be potential human beings and current law forbids federally funded scientists to work with them. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, introduced a bill last month that would permit scientists backed by taxpayer dollars to use discarded embryos as a source of stem cells. Specter argues that allowing federally funded scientists to derive their own stem cells would foster public oversight of their activities. Private companies are free to do as they please, and some, such as Geron Corp., are developing cloning technology with the idea of creating their own embryonic sources of stem cells. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants to let its scientists work on embryonic stem cells, just so long as they do not themselves take them from a human embryo. The public comment period on the NIH rules has been extended to Feb. 22. Specter hopes to hold a hearing on the issue on the same day. But Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback has other ideas. One of the key opponents of the use of embryonic stem cells, he held his own hearing on the issue earlier this week. ``The embryonic stem cell research being proposed by the NIH is illegal, immoral and unnecessary,'' Brownback said in a statement. Brownback and supporters ranging from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to fellow Republican Trent Lott, a senator from Mississippi, say every embryo is a potential human life and thus cannot be experimented upon. Many scientists, backed by the National Bioethics Advisory Commission and by Specter, disagree. ``These are cells from discarded embryos. These cells cannot, will not produce life. What they may be able to produce is cures for some dread diseases,'' Specter spokesman Charles Robbins said in a telephone interview. The University of Wisconsin, where researcher James Thomson first isolated embryonic stem cells, has taken matters into its own hands. Last week the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation said it had established a private subsidiary, the WiCell Research Institute, Inc., to distribute the cells to scientists. ``Our intention is to make these cells widely available, and at a low cost for academic researchers,'' Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the foundation, said in a statement. He said more than 100 requests for the cells have been received and that at least a dozen companies had approached the foundation about stem cell technology. ``The important thing is now we can distribute the cells to as many scientists as want them,'' Thomson said. Stem cells can be derived from sources other than embryos. They can come from aborted fetuses -- a source which, while distasteful to some, is currently legal. Researchers have also coaxed stem cells from other sources, including the blood and brain, into differentiating into other kinds of cells. ``Shouldn't we use federal funds to find out how promising these amazing adult cells might be before crossing the moral Rubicon of helping destroy innocent life for research purposes?'' asked Richard Doerflinger of the Bishop's conference. Federal funds are already being used for this purpose, retort supporters of embryonic stem cell research, and they cite studies that suggest the embryonic cells might be more flexible than other sources of stem cells. Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. -- Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada [log in to unmask]