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CALIFORNIA: Biotech Watches Stem Cell Debate By: BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer Last modified Saturday, March 13, 2004 10:06 PM PST California's leaders have been proud of the state's biotechnology community. This fall, state voters are likely to be asked for their own vote of confidence ---- and financial support. The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative now being circulated (www.curesforcalifornia.com) calls for spending $295 million a year in state funding for research on stem cells. These are the progenitor cells that differentiate into various kinds of tissues. They could replace damaged or destroyed cells, such as new insulin- producing cells for Type I diabetics. However, it's not just a question of giving money to develop a promising treatment. Voters are going to have to make a tough moral choice about how to weigh three very different issues: science, medicine and religious values about human life. The stem cells with the most therapeutic promise come from embryos. This is unacceptable to many who hold that embryos are human beings with a right to life. They don't want to see these lives used as a medical tool, even if other lives could be saved. The end does not justify the means. The Bush administration highlighted those concerns in 2001 by banning federal funding for this research, except in embryonic stem cell lines that had already been cultivated. The initiative sidesteps this ban by providing state money for the research. Many stem cell researchers say that despite what the administration promised, there are not enough federally approved embryonic stem cell lines to work with. This leads to some tough questions. What's the moral difference between using embryonic stem cells developed before the Bush ban and those afterward, as Harvard has done? And if these embryos would have been killed anyway, why is it morally preferable to just discard them? Many life science researchers view support of embryonic stem cell research as a key test of how much the researchers are valued. Last year, the California Legislature passed a law endorsing the research. This cheered top stem cell researchers such as Evan Snyder at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla. Snyder said California's support of the research helped convince him to move his stem cell research lab from Massachusetts to California. So when voters go to the polls to vote on the stem cell initiative, scientists will be watching ---- not only in California, but elsewhere in the nation and the world. Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at [log in to unmask] or (760) 739-6641. SOURCE: North County Times, CA http://tinyurl.com/2fmle * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn