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A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL - 4/25/2001 Retarding Research THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES of Health have received proposals from all over the country for research using stem cells taken from human embryos slated for destruction. A committee had planned to meet today to choose the most promising experiments for treating such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's. But the Bush administration has barred the meeting while the administration sorts out its stance on this line of research. That could take months, wasting crucial time in the fight against some of mankind's most devastating diseases. Preliminary work funded privately or done overseas has led scientists to believe that stem cells can be cultivated to replace diseased or damaged tissue. The cells come from embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization procedures in which doctors typically create more embryos than are used. Scientists are required to get parental consent before extracting cells, which kills the embryos. Scientists had been encouraged to plan research projects after a Clinton administration ruling last year that federal support of stem-cell research would be legal as long as scientists used cells that privately funded researchers had taken from the embryos. For years, Congress has banned federal support of work that destroys embryos, which antiabortion groups equate with killing a human being. The Bush administration has to decide whether it can accept the Clinton administration compromise. Government-backed scientists in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom are free to work in this area. If the Bush administration decides it cannot accept the compromise, millions of people suffering from a range of diseases and injuries will be denied the potential benefit of federally funded research in the United States. Opponents of stem cell research hold out the hope that certain cells in adults might also serve the function of stem cells. But scientists say this research is at a very early stage. The Bush administration should act quickly to approve the Clinton safeguards and let American scientists do their best to save lives. This story ran on page 25 of the Boston Globe on 4/25/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/115/editorials/Retarding_research+.shtml ********* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn