Embryonic Stem Cells July 14-15, 1999

U.S. Seeks Limited Cell Research
by
Lauran Neergaard
AP Medical Writer

2:20 AM EST; July 15, 1999; Washington, D.C. (AP) -- President Clinton's top ethics advisers are finalizing recommendations that Federal law be changed to allow the government to finance a certain type of human embryo research, but the White House says it doesn't want to go that far. Instead, the White House is opting for a more conservative approach advocated by the National Institutes of Health -- and in so doing, perhaps can avoid a fight with Congress.

The issue is over experiments with embryonic stem cells, the "master cells" that in early embryos generate all the other tissues of the body. Stem cells are causing huge excitement in the scientific community because researchers believe they can learn how to use the cells to make body parts or to find new therapies for Alzheimer's and other devastating diseases.

But their use is raising troubling ethical questions and has generated opposition from about 75 members of Congress. So Clinton ordered the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to study how the nation should proceed. Federal law prohibits taxpayer-funded research involving human embryos. The ethics advisers met this week to put final touches on recommendations that would, among other things, urge a change to that law. Citing the great promise of stem cells, the draft recommendations would allow women who have leftover embryos after fertility treatments to donate those embryos to government-funded scientists, who would remove the stem cells for research. That's further than the National Institutes of Health had proposed going.

Scientists working last year with scarce private money succeeded in culling some stem cells from embryos -- a process that destroys the embryos -- and grew more cells for future research. Because government-funded scientists didn't actually touch those embryos, NIH Director Harold Varmus says it is legal for government scientists to use the resulting lab-grown cells in an attempt to create new therapies. And he says there are enough lab-grown cells to do the job.

In a statement Wednesday, the White House endorsed NIH's more cautious proposal instead of trying to get Congress to change the laws regarding embryo research. "No other legal actions are necessary at this time, because it appears that human embryonic stem cells will be available from the private sector," the White House statement said. "We very much agree (with the ethics advisers) that stem cell research shows extraordinary promise for the future," added White House spokesman Barry Toiv. "But we believe that it is not necessary at this time, given the current state of the private market, to urge a change in the law in order to provide sufficient stem cells." Ethics commission members, in contrast, have said during their eight-month debate on the issue that more cells, culled from additional embryos, may be needed. The executive director of the ethics panel, Eric Meslin, was initially unaware of the White House position late Wednesday and had no immediate comment.

Clinton Wants Stem Cell Research
by
Lauran Neergaard
AP Medical Writer

9:25 PM EST; July 14, 1999; Washington, D.C. (AP) -- President Clinton's top ethics advisers are close to recommending a change in Federal law to allow the government to finance a certain type of human embryo research -- but the White House instead said Wednesday it will support a more conservative approach. The issue is over experiments with "master cells," the building blocks for other tissues in the body that scientists can cull from human embryos.

These embryonic stem cells are generating huge excitement because they could lead to new therapies for Alzheimer's and other devastating diseases. But the use of them has raised troubling ethical questions, and is generating opposition from anti-abortion forces and some members of Congress. The National Bioethics Advisory Commission met this week to put final touches on recommendations that would allow women who have leftover embryos after fertility treatment to donate those embryos to taxpayer-funded scientists, who would remove the stem cells for research.

Federal law prohibits taxpayer-funded research involving human embryos. So the commission's draft recommendations urged a change to that law, citing the great promise of the research. That's further than the National Institutes of Health had proposed going.

Scientists working last year with scarce private funding succeeded in culling some stem cells from embryos -- a process that destroys the embryos -- and grew more cells for future research. Because government-funded scientists didn't actually touch those embryos, NIH Director Dr. Harold Varmus says it is legal for government scientists to use the resulting lab-grown cells in an attempt to create new therapies.

In a statement Wednesday, the White House appeared to endorse NIH's more cautious proposal instead of the ethics committee's bolder recommendation. "No other legal actions are necessary at this time, because it appears that human embryonic stem cells will be available from the private sector," said the White House statement.

The White House went on to say "publicly funded research using these cells is permissible" under current law, thus supporting Varmus' position. Varmus has said that the government doesn't need to finance the culling of stem cells from additional embryos because, he contends, the lab-grown supplies are sufficient for the necessary research. The White House ultimately agreed. Ethics commission members, in contrast, have said during their eight-month debate of the issue that more cells may in fact be needed. The Executive Director of the Ethics Panel, Eric Meslin, was initially unaware of the White House position and had no immediate comment.

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1. "Embryo Stem-Cell Research Gets White House Support," p. A1, B6, The Wall Street Journal (July 16, 1999).

2. "[Phoenix] Clinic Plans to Destroy Unclaimed Embryos," p. D10, The New York Times (July 13, 1999).