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Saturday, March 10, 2001 Lawsuit targets embryo research Sharon Schmickle / Star Tribune The battle over research using human embryos spilled from the political arena into the courts this week as the Bush administration faced a deadline of next Thursday for accepting requests to fund studies involving stem cells derived from embryos. Scientists at the University of Minnesota and other research institutions plan to seek funding for studies that they say promise new treatments for spinal injuries, heart problems and other disorders. Opponents of the research, including abortion opponents and several religious leaders, are rallying behind a class-action lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. The suit asserts that the funding is "illegal, immoral and unnecessary," said Samuel Casey, of the Human Life Advocates in Virginia. President Bush has signaled repeatedly that he opposes destruction of any human embryos. But supporters of the studies, including 80 Nobel laureates and dozens of patient groups, have bombarded the White House with letters urging him to honor a Clinton administration decision to fund the research. Friday, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents joined them. Every regent was appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, the former Wisconsin governor who is Bush's top adviser on the issue. The University of Minnesota joined 122 other organizations in signing a letter sent to Bush in January. It said that "it would be tragic to waste this opportunity to pursue the work that can potentially help millions of people in need." Bush could reverse the Clinton administration decision, which in effect sidestepped a congressional ban on federal funding for research that destroys human embryos. Under Clinton guidelines, the federal government couldn't pay for extracting the cells from embryos, but it could fund studies of cells after they had been extracted in private labs. The suit holds that the guidelines are illegal and asks the federal court to order Thompson and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to stop accepting funding applications until the court can decide whether to strike down the guidelines. The suit was filed by a coalition of groups and individuals led by the Tennessee-based Christian Medical Association, which says it represents 14,000 doctors and dentists, and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, based in California. It seeks adoptive parents for human embryos stored in fertility clinics. Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Medical Association, said there is a "terrible price to be paid when unethical means are used to reach even laudable ends." Bush and Thompson said through spokesmen this week that they have appointed an expert panel to review the issue and that the NIH can accept funding applications until Thursday's deadline while delaying any final decisions until the review is completed. "The president is very understanding and respectful of the promises of science," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters Wednesday. However, Bush also remains "very concerned" about procedures that would involve taking cells from viable embryos, he added. "The 15th is simply the date that applications are due," and final funding decisions could be delayed for months, said Bill Hall, Thompson's spokesman. Groups behind the suit sharply disagree with that interpretation, Casey said. The very preparation of applications encourages the destruction of embryos, he said. The debate is over the body's so-called master cells, which give rise to all tissue from toenails to scalp. Scientists first isolated such cells in 1998 at the University of Wisconsin using embryos that a fertility clinic had planned to discard. The excitement over their use in research comes from expectations that such cells can help replenish damaged or diseased cells in people of all ages. Scientists at the University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute and other research centers have isolated stem cells from adult tissue. Bush has called upon researchers to focus on such adult cells. However, many scientists say that both types of research are needed in order to compare and understand the full potential for the cells. Starting studies without federal approval would be unthinkable for most universities, because that could jeopardize federal funding for other medical research. Dr. Catherine Verfaillie, who directs Minnesota's Stem Cell Institute, said Friday that she is putting together several requests for federally approved research with human embryonic cells. She said the NIH has warned applicants that they may have to study primate or rat cells instead. Sharon Schmickle can be contacted at [log in to unmask] © Copyright 2001 Star Tribune. All rights reserved http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=83751265 ******