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Senator Blasts Stem Cell Report By Kristen Philipkoski 11:55 a.m. July 18, 2001 PDT A Senate subcommittee chairman harshly criticized a National Institutes of Health report Wednesday for avoiding the question of whether researchers need more stem cells to advance research. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) called the report a "quasi-political" document, and said he was "disappointed" that it did not address more serious scientific questions. The report is a summary of the state of stem cell research in the U.S. but did not address the scientific need for more stem cells. Dr. Lana Skirboll, associate director of science policy for the NIH skirted Specter's question by saying the NIH does not have a position on whether stem cells should be derived using federal funding. The question was key during the Senate Appropriations subcommittee meeting where legislators were weighing the pros and cons of using taxpayer money to fund controversial embryonic stem cell research. The use of federal funds for stem cell research was banned in the United States five years ago until early 2000 when the Clinton administration drafted new guidelines. The new guidelines stated that embryonic stem cell research could be funded by taxpayers so long as no embryos were destroyed using federal money. In order to derive stem cells -- master cells that have the potential to become any human tissue or organ -- the embryo must be destroyed. Some researchers believe the cells could one day replace damaged cells to treat diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes. Now, several stem cell "lines" exist and are available for research. They have the ability to replicate indefinitely, but many researchers say they need a more diverse population of cells. "We didn't give you the funding to not do important scientific things," he said. "Maybe we should take that funding back." Skirboll said that in addition to the guideline issues, several patents held by private research firms could pose intellectual property barriers to the government producing embryonic stem cell lines. Specter called the patent issue a red herring, saying the government would step in if private firms were "out there profiteering." Skirboll also said NIH researchers were under a time crunch to finish the report before Wednesday's meeting. Dr. Mary Hendrix of the University of Iowa Medical School and director of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, said more stem cell lines were certainly needed. Plus, she said, it's important for stem cell researchers to derive the cells themselves so they know where they came from and understand their specific scientific properties, in order to work with them effectively. "If I didn't have the opportunity to derive (stem cells) in my own lab or didn't know the source, I would have a problem conducting an experiment and interpreting the results of the experiment," Hendrix said. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), questioned the logic of the Clinton guidelines. "It's like saying don't tell me what bank you robbed, just give me the money," Harkin said. A bill written by Specter and Harkin would allow federal researchers to derive their own stem cells. Researchers from the Jones Institute for Reproduction in Virginia, who some say crossed a moral boundary last week by creating embryos specifically for research, defended their practices at the meeting. William Gibson, chairman of the Jones Institute, said the researchers created the embryos in order to "focus on populations that were not infertile and younger." Dr. Susan Lanzendorf, an associate professor at the Jones Institute, said she has received many phone calls from people with family members suffering from diseases that could potentially be cured by embryonic stem cell treatment, offering to donate their sperm or eggs. "The use of donated gametes was the path we chose," she said. "I personally feel the method is ethical if the donors specifically consent to what they're being used for." SOURCE: Wired News http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,45347,00.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn