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PETBioNewsNewsUS stem cell and cloning legislation news

BioNews

US stem cell and cloning legislation news

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 315

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BioNews

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).

Supporters of a US bill to extend federal funding of research on human embryonic stem (ES) cells are predicting a victory when it is debated by Senators later this month. More than 60 are expected to vote in favour of the legislation, say its proponents - although President Bush has pledged...

Supporters of a US bill to extend federal funding of research on human embryonic stem cell (ES cells) are predicting a victory when it is debated by Senators later this month. More than 60 are expected to vote in favour of the legislation, say its proponents - although President Bush has pledged to veto the bill, if passed. A two-thirds majority (67 votes) would be needed to override a presidential veto. Last week, Senator Orrin Hatch, one of the bill's supporters, was reported to be working on a compromise measure that would avoid a veto.


Many scientists believe that research on human ES cells will lead to new therapies for a host of diseases, including diabetes and Parkinson's disease. President Bush's policy on human ES cell research permits federally funded scientists to carry out research on cell lines created before 9 August 2001, but researchers have complained that this policy leaves only less effective cell lines for them to work on. A bill loosening the restrictions was passed by the House of Representatives in May, by 238 votes to 194 - not enough to allow a veto to be overridden. If passed by the Senate, the bill would allow federal funds to be used for research on new ES cell lines derived from embryos left over from fertility treatments and voluntarily donated by patients.


Senator Hatch has said that he is trying to come up with a compromise measure that Bush could still sign, without going back on his pledge to ban the use of taxpayer's money for research that involves the destruction of human embryos. The compromise ES cell bill 'would not utilise federal funds during the capture of stem cells but would use federal funds after the stem cells were captured', he told reporters last Wednesday. But Senators Tom Harkin and Gordon Smith and other supporters of the measure think that a strong Senate vote, coupled with strong public support, could persuade Bush to reconsider his position.


Several US states are enacting their own legislation to provide funding for ES cell research. Last week, the New Jersey Senate approved by 21-14 votes bill S 2649, which would allocate $150 million to the construction of a dedicated ES cell research centre. Senate President and acting Governor Richard Codey said the facility would 'help establish New Jersey as an international centre of excellence for stem cell research'. However, several groups opposed to the measure have threatened lawsuits if the bill is signed into law.


Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Assembly has approved by 59-38 votes a bill that would ban all forms of human cloning in the state, including cloning for research purposes. Anyone who contravened the law, if passed, could face up to ten years in prison and up to a $1 million fine. Before approving the measure, the Assembly removed a provision banning research involving parthenogenesis a process in which a female egg cell is stimulated to divide without fertilising it. However, it rejected by 56-42 votes an amendment that would have banned human reproductive cloning whilst allowing cloning for research purposes to proceed. Governor Jim Doyle has promised to veto the measure, saying 'my real concern is that this bill is really an attempt to in effect reach out and stop stem cell research'.

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Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false colour).
CC BY 4.0
Image by Sílvia Ferreira, Cristina Lopo and Eileen Gentleman via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a single human stem cell embedded within a porous hydrogel matrix (false-coloured cryogenic scanning electron micrograph).
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Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
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Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has proposed postponing until 2006 a vote on a bill that would expand federal funding for human embryonic stem (ES) cell research. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act 2005 would, if passed, allow funding for scientists to conduct ES cell research on embryos left over...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Bill prohibiting all cloning vetoed in Wisconsin

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Jim Doyle, the Governor of the US State of Wisconsin, has vetoed legislation (bill 499) passed in the state that would have meant that all forms of human cloning were prohibited. He says that he used his right of veto because the law would mean that some of the 'most...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
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Human embryonic stem (ES) cell researchers participating in a state-wide conference in the US state of New Jersey have warned that 'lip service' to the research and the provision of adequate state funds is not good enough, and that researchers could shift to other states that offer better incentives. Both...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Florida and Illinois to fund ES cell research

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Florida may be the next US state to fund embryonic stem (ES) cell research, under a proposed constitutional amendment put forward by the group Floridians for Stem Cell Research and Cures (FSCRC). The proposal would allocate $200 million over ten years to the research and its backers say the language...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

US Senators to debate embryo stem cells soon

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Senators in the US will start to debate a bill on the issue of human embryonic stem (ES) cell research next month. A bipartisan group of senators is campaigning to persuade President Bush to relax his policy on the research. Bush, who opposes any research that would involve the destruction...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
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9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

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The Delaware Senate has approved a bill (called SB 80) that would prohibit human cloning for reproductive purposes but allow cloning for research purposes. Senators approved the bill, sponsored by State Senator Robert Venables, by 14-7 last Tuesday. The bill will allow human embryonic stem (ES) cell research to...

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