FROM: United Press International
September 22, 2000, Friday
SECTION: GENERAL NEWS
LENGTH: 369 words
HEADLINE: Bush White House would end stem cell research
BYLINE: By MARK KUKIS
DATELINE: SUN CITY, Fla., Sept. 22
BODY:
If elected president, George W. Bush would end stem cell research
involving
human embryos, a controversial practice that was cleared last month for
federal
funding by the National Institutes of Health, an aide to the Republican
presidential candidate said Friday.
"It's something we would take steps to remedy," a Bush campaign health
policy
adviser said, on condition of anonymity, as the candidate suggested an
increase
in NIH funding by $67 billion over 10 years.
The adviser said Bush's public stance against medical studies using
tissue
from frozen embryos would lead a Bush administration to cut off federal
funds
for embryonic stem cell research, which the NIH approved in August by
lifting a
yearlong moratorium.
Stem cells, formed in humans and animals at the beginning of life,
have the
ability to produce a variety of specialized cells in the body, such as
muscle
cells or nerve cells. Scientists believe they can cultivate stem cells to
produce healthy tissues to either augment or replace ailing organs.
The kind of stem cells used in research, "pluripotent" cells, can
develop
into many different cell types, but they cannot grow into a fetus.
Because of
this, the NIH said federal law, which prohibits embryo research, does not
preclude funding for research using pluripotent stem cells.
But the research is opposed by many anti-abortion groups because it
involves
destroying tissue that could, if implanted in a woman, develop into a
fetus.
"Governor Bush as a pro-life candidate does not support things that
would be
the potential taking of a life, so that's why embryonic (research) is
problematic for us," the adviser said.
Doctors believe stem cell research, however, has the potential to
revolutionize medical treatment in areas ranging from Parkinson's disease
to
paralysis. A ban on stem cell research would undercut many ongoing
scientific
studies.
PAGE 2
United Press International September 22, 2000, Friday
In conjunction with its decision in August, the NIH issued guidelines
stating
that federal funds for stem cell research can be used only if the cells
were
derived from frozen embryos that had been created for the purpose of
fertility
treatment and were not subsequently needed. They cannot be taken from
aborted
fetuses.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: September 23, 2000
