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Stem Cell Research Gets Boost ... 'Angry' Baldwin Announces New Push By Chuck Nowlen March 8, 2004 Outraged by recent news that some federally approved embryonic stem cell lines are useless, U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin today announced a renewed push in Congress to end Bush administration restrictions on stem cell research. "I am angry that our government limits this research," Baldwin said during a morning press conference at the WiCell Research Instititute, the University of Wisconsin's stem cell research headquarters. "Clearly this policy needs re- examining. It is not working." The Madison Democrat's comments followed last week's disclosure that at least 16 of the nation's 78 government-approved human embryonic stem cell colonies - the only lines allowed by the Bush administration in federally funded research - are dead or unusable. Baldwin's latest move to end those restrictions, which she said will begin "in a few days" with a letter to President Bush signed by other stem cell research proponents in Congress, also followed criticism of Bush's stem cell policy by a recently dismissed member of the Presidents' Council on Bioethics. The council member, University of California at San Francisco biochemist Elizabeth H. Blackburn, insisted after her dismissal last month that the panel's reports were typically written to reflect the Bush administration's "political or ideological" objections to human embryonic stem cell research, rather than "reasoned, open discussion" of scientific principles. That charge was repeated at this morning's press conference by Michael Manganiello, of the Washington D.C.-based Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. After a tour of the WiCell facility, Manganiello flanked Baldwin at the podium with UW-Madison stem cell pioneer James Thomson. Manganiello added that limits on what stem cell lines can be used in federally funded research has quashed medical breakthroughs in such areas as Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Lou Gehrig's Disease. "Neurology is a particularly promising area for stem cell research," he said. "The problem is that our public policies in this area were not formed based on scientific merit but on political ideology." The ideology in question is the anti-abortion movement and those in it who believe that the destruction of human embryos is tantamount to murder. Thomson, who stopped short of formally endorsing Baldwin's latest push in Congress: "Clearly if there no (federal) policies involved, this whole area of research would be dramatically further ahead than it is." Asked why she believes this week's letter to the president will be any more successful than past efforts, Baldwin said public support for unfettered stem cell research has broadened in the wake dramatic research breakthroughs. Baldwin, who added diabetes and spinal cord rejuvenations to the list of areas where stem cell research has produced promising results, specifically referred to endorsements by the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association and such conservative members of Congress as Republican Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. "We simply cannot afford not to aggressively explore the possibilities that stem cell research can unlock," Baldwin said. "There is just too much at stake." Noting that Democratic frontrunner U.S. Sen. John Kerry has said he would rescind Bush's restrictions, Baldwin and Manganiello added that stem cell research could be given a high profile during this year's presidential campaign. Badlwin and Manganiello also touted a new WiCell program under which scientists from around the world can learn how to handle human embryonic stem cells at two-day, $900 seminars led by UW-Madison experts. The seminars are free for UW-Madison researchers. The WiCell Research Institute currently has four federally approved stem cell lines, and has provided a total of 183 other lines to 163 researchers around the world, said WiCell President Carl Gulbrandson. The unapproved lines are available for research, he explained, but researchers who use them are not eligible for federal funding. E-mail: [log in to unmask] Published: 12:51 AM 3/08/04 SOURCE: The Capital Times, WI http://www.madison.com/captimes/news/stories/69701.php References: The WiCell Research Institute http://www.wicell.org/ WiCell currently offers a 2-day training course on basic stem cell culture techniques. http://www.wicell.org/learn/index.jsp FAQs - Obtaining Our Cells http://www.wicell.org/forresearchers/index.jsp?catid=5 FAQs - Culturing Human ES Cells Common technical and logistical questions about the culture and maintenance of WiCell Human Embryonic Stem Cells. http://www.wicell.org/forresearchers/index.jsp?catid=10 FAQs - Stem Cells for Industry http://www.wicell.org/forindustry/index.jsp?catid=20 Stem Cell Developments http://www.wicell.org/news/index.jsp?catid=13 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn