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Push For Stem Cell Research Raises Hopes In Wisconsin JENNY PRICE - Associated Press Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004 BOSTON - Backers of stem cell research in Wisconsin, where scientists pioneered the work, said the push at Tuesday's National Democratic Convention to lift restrictions on federal funding could help bring the state economic and scientific results. Delegates approved a party platform that includes a plank calling for reversing restrictions President Bush placed on the research almost three years ago. And Ron Reagan, the son of the late President Reagan, used a convention speech Tuesday night to express his support for putting more federal money behind stem cell research. John Kerry has already said he would overturn those funding restrictions if elected. "Not only is this an issue of enormous good for the whole world but for our economic growth in the state of Wisconsin," said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. In 1998, University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher James Thomson became the first to grow and sustain human embryonic stem cells in the lab. There are now 58 people working with stem cells in Wisconsin. UW-Madison's WiCell Research Institute, a nonprofit laboratory set up in 1999, currently markets five lines of human embryonic stem cells that scientists can use for research supported by federal grants. WiCell holds a license to distribute the cells from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the licensing agency for university discoveries. Scientists can buy cells from the institute for $900. The university has distributed cells from its existing lines to 218 U.S. researchers, WARF spokesman Andrew Cohn said. "Once we move this past the research stage, companies are going to want to move toward the brain power," Cohn said. "A whole new industry is being developed here in Wisconsin." Doyle, whose mother has suffered from Parkinson's disease for 25 years, urged the Democratic National Committee in June to include the plank allowing the development of new stem cell lines from human embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics. He said in Boston that Bush is "so tied up in some kind of ideology" that he's not able to explain the rationale for the limits. But Bush campaign spokeswoman Merrill Smith said the president's decision "allows us to explore the promise of stem cell research and do so in a way that doesn't cross a moral threshold." Since Bush limited federal funding for stem cell research to lines in existence before Aug. 9, 2001, the number of lines available for research has dropped from more than 78 to 19. 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 others cells 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. The use of stem cells is controversial because extracting the cells kills a living human embryo. Steven Singh, a first-year medical student and first-time delegate, said the Bush administration has hindered progress by meddling in ethical questions that are best handled by researchers. "It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of money," he said. "The longer we wait, the longer we delay those sorts of benefits." ON THE NET WiCell Research Institute: http://www.wicell.org/ SOURCE: Duluth News Tribune, MN http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/politics/9257504.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn