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PETBioNewsNewsUS stem cell news

BioNews

US stem cell news

Published 9 June 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 255

Author

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).

Over one million citizens of California have signed a petition supporting a three billion dollar bond to have a bill promoting embryonic stem (ES) cell research included in the November ballot. When the campaign to gain support for the measure began, in February, only 600,000 supporting signatures were required by...

Over one million citizens of California have signed a petition supporting a three billion dollar bond to have a bill promoting embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research included in the November ballot. When the campaign to gain support for the measure began, in February, only 600,000 supporting signatures were required by 16 April - the petition has far exceeded this expectation.


The bill is seen as a 'counter' to the stem cell policies of President Bush. The campaign group - called 'Californians for Stem Cell Research and Cures' and comprised of patient advocate groups and scientific researchers - want the bond to provide 295 million dollars of state funding per year to Californian universities, research institutes and companies involved in research into ES cells. It also wants to allocate funding for cloning projects to create stem cells for regenerative therapies, but specifies that cloning for reproductive purposes is not to be allowed. If the bill succeeds, California would be the first state in the US to publicly fund ES cell research.


In a similar move, researchers are scheduled to meet with drug company representatives, bankers and businessmen in New Jersey this week, in order to move forward ES cell research in the state. They also want to raise a three billion dollar 'trust fund' to be administered to promising research projects. New Jersey passed a law in January that promotes ES cell research, and the state has also pledged 6.5 million dollars to develop ES cell work at Rutgers University.


Last week, the University of Wisconsin announced it was establishing a 150-person stem cell research institute. And Harvard University has also formally announced its own 100 million dollar ES cell research programme and centre, shortly before last month's announcement that Doug Melton, a scientist there, had established 17 new ES cell lines that he would make freely available to privately funded researchers. According to reports, in one month he had received 320 requests for the cell lines, exceeding the 300 requests made to the National Institutes of Health for the President-approved stem cell lines since 2001.


Also last week, Massachusetts Senator and Senate President Robert Travaglini renewed a call for the state to have ES cell research legislation, saying that the state will 'lose ground' to other states if it did not protect its ES cell researchers. A bill that was close to being passed at the end of last year was 'thwarted by the Catholic Church and other abortion opponents'. By passing a law authorising the research, Travaglini said that the state could prevent its researchers being 'poached' by California and New Jersey, states which have already passed laws promoting ES cell research, and support the Harvard initiative.


According to USA Today, there are currently more than 100 bills spread over 33 states 'that alternatively condemn, condone or fund embryonic stem cell research'. And research is moving ahead despite the lack of federal support. Last month, the University of Minnesota applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permission to begin clinical stem cell trials in humans.

Related Articles

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

Massachusetts lawmakers approve embryo cloning research

by BioNews

Legislation authorising research on human embryonic stem (ES) cells was passed by both the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives last week. The state Senate approved the bill by an overwhelming 35-2 votes on Wednesday, then the state House approved its version by 117-37 votes the following day...

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).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Massachusetts faces battle on stem cells

by BioNews

Robert Travaglini, President of the Senate in the US state of Massachusetts, has introduced a new bill that would support the development of embryonic stem (ES) cell research in the state. While it does not provide for state funding of such, he claims that the bill would show that Massachusetts...

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 states going their own way on ES cell research

by BioNews

The acting governor of the state of New Jersey has said that he plans to spend $380 million on embryonic stem (ES) cell research. Richard Codey told the state Assembly that New Jersey needs to stay in the forefront of the science in this politically sensitive field. Of the total...

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).
News
9 June 2009 • 1 minute read

Harvard teams to clone human embryos

by BioNews

Researchers at Harvard University in the US have asked for permission to produce cloned human embryos. One research team, led by Doug Melton and Kevin Eggan, has asked the university's stem cell ethics committee for permission to make embryos cloned from people with type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's...

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

Schwarzenegger lends support to Proposition 71

by BioNews

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California, has formally endorsed a bill that, if passed, would provide $3 billion of funding for embryonic stem (ES) cell research in the state over the next ten years. The bill, known as proposition 71, or the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative...

Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
CC BY 4.0
Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

Harvard offers 17 free embryonic stem cell lines

by BioNews

In what is being viewed as a further criticism of President Bush's embryonic stem (ES) cell policy in the US, scientists from Harvard University in Boston have announced that they have created 17 healthy and 'scientifically useful' ES cell lines that they will offer for use, free of charge, to...

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).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

US states and regulation of stem cell research

by BioNews

The University of Minnesota, US, has applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permission to begin clinical stem cell trials in humans. If the FDA approves the trials, the University would become the first public research institute in the country to begin work looking at the therapeutic use...

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).
News
9 June 2009 • 2 minutes read

California group seeks stem cell funds

by BioNews

A campaign has begun in the US state of California to include a bill in the November ballot to facilitate funding for embryonic stem (ES) cell research by establishing a three billion dollar bond. The bill is seen as a 'counter' to the stem cell policies of President George W...

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