Doubting Bush's stem cell policy

Restrictions imposed by President Bush on embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research in the US have 'outraged' Senators on an Appropriations Health Subcommittee. Republican Senator Arlen Specter and Democrat Senator Tom Harkin discovered that the restrictions prevent federal funds being used for research on newly developed ES cell lines that may be safer for use than cell lines that are currently available for federal researchers.

ES cell lines have been developed in Sweden without the use of mouse 'feeder cells', unlike those which President Bush earmarked as available for use by federally funded scientists in August 2001. The policy only allows work on ES cell lines created before that date but not for research that would mean the destruction of further embryos. However, since August 2001, scientists have learnt to grow ES cell lines without using mouse cells to promote growth. Specter said that he would consider introducing legislation that would overturn Bush's policy, saying that scientists' hands 'shouldn't be tied in any way'.

Specter also claimed that discovering that mouse cells did not have to be used was 'shocking' because, until Monday of last week, the Senate subcommittee had been told that all ES cell lines had been fed by mouse cells. Senator Harkin accused the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) of failing to supply up to date information, consequently 'politicising' the debate on ES cell research in the US.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman has also criticised Bush's ES cell policy. In the light of recent news that only 11 of the 70 plus ES cell lines identified by Bush and the NIH for use by federally funded researchers may be of use, he vowed also to overturn the policy completely if he is elected. He said that the focus should be on finding cures for diseases, adding that he would allocate $150 billion over 10 years to find 'the next generation of treatments, medicines and vaccines by working with the scientific community and private sector to support the most promising lines of research'. His speech drew loud applause from the audience but has been criticised by opponents of ES cell research.