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Two reports bring good news tonight! FROM: AP Online November 7, 2001 Wednesday 7:16 PM Eastern Time SECTION: WASHINGTON DATELINE HEADLINE: NIH Releases Stem Cell Colonies List BYLINE: PAUL RECER; AP Science Writer DATELINE: WASHINGTON "Stem cell colonies approved for federally funded research now number 72, eight more than were identified earlier in the year, the government reported Wednesday. The National Institutes of Health posted a list of the approved cells lines on the Internet in what it calls a "Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry." The registry is part of a system established by the Bush administration after plans for humans stem cell research created heated debates between some scientific groups and conservative religious organizations. Under the rules, scientists who want to apply for a government grant to study embryonic stem cells must select from the registry, said Dr. Wendy Baldwin of the NIH. She said that eight new cell lines on the registry all come from the 64 embryos that officials had identified as acceptable for government-supported research. The list grew because a company grew new cell colonies, or cell lines, from approved cells obtained from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in Madison, Wis., Baldwin said. The added cells have the same genetic structure as the Wisconsin source cells. The NIH notice listed 11 international companies that had cell lines that meet President Bush's criteria for federal funds. In addition to the Wisconsin foundation, there are four other American organizations on the list, two each from India and Sweden, and one each from Israel and Australia. Goteborg University in Sweden has the most listed cell lines, 19. Under the eligibility rules for government money, the cell lines must have been derived from a human embryos before Aug. 9. Also, the embryo could not have had a chance for further development, such as one scheduled for disposal by a fertility clinic. Baldwin said that the NIH has extended its stem cell research application deadline to Nov. 27 to allow scientists time to arrange to use one of the approved cell lines. "This is a one-time extension," she said. "We want to mainstream stem cell research with all of the other research that we fund." Embryonic stem cells are the basic building blocks of the body. They form within days of conception and are the ancestral cells from which all of the organs and other cells in the body develop. Scientists believe that research could lead to using the cells to replace or restore failing organs, treating such conditions as heart disease, spinal injury, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Establishing the cell lines requires the death of a human embryo. Some groups consider embryos to be human and equate their intentional death to murder. Embryonic stem cell studies also opposed by some members of Congress. Bush said in August that his administration would fund research only on existing stem cells lines derived from embryos "where the life and death decision has already been made." Research using stem cells processed after that date would not be funded, he said. Many scientists said that the limited number of cell lines on the list can cripple the emerging field of medical research because it would restrict the genetic variety of cells in the research. On the Net: National Institutes of Health: http://www.nih.gov Stem cell primer: http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/primer.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn