NIH backs greater study of stem cell potential

WASHINGTON - Scientists must be free to study stem cells from all sources to discover the full potential of the cells to treat disease, says a federal report requested by the Bush administration.

President Bush is weighing whether to allow federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, which is opposed by some because isolating the cells requires the death of a human embryo. Bush asked the federal researchers for more information on the issue, but the report from the National Institutes of Health does not make any recommendation on federal funding.

The report, to be released Wednesday at a congressional hearing, focuses on the science.

An executive summary, obtained by The Associated Press, says embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into all types of cells and tissue, a flexibility that may be lacking in "adult" stem cells taken from mature tissue. However, the report concludes, "the answers clearly lie in conducting more research."

The White House received a copy of the report Tuesday from federal officials, said presidential spokesman Scott McClellan.

"The report is one component of the scientific, ethical and legal issues involved," McClellan said. "The president intends to look at it in that context."

The federal report made distinctions among the types of stem cells. For example, it discussed the differences between cells extracted from fetuses and from embryos. Embryonic germ cells, taken from the developing reproductive areas of a fetus, are described as being similar to the embryonic stem cells.

A consistent theme of the report is that more research is needed before any firm, scientific conclusion can be reached on the relative medical value of the stem cell types.

The emotional and ethical divide over the issue was evident at a congressional hearing Tuesday where Republican opponents of the research brought out three children who had been "adopted" as frozen embryos.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said the three children had "emerged from their frozen orphanages to be loved and cared for by their adoptive parents." He said it is "highly offensive, insensitive and inhumane to label human embryos as excess or throwaway or spare."

Smith and other opponents of federal funding of embryonic stem cell research sought to portray embryo adoption as an alternative to destruction of surplus embryos at fertility clinics.

Backers of embryonic stem cell research say use of surplus embryos is ethically acceptable as a means to supply stem cells for possible treatment of crippling diseases and to learn more about early development.

Tuesday's hearing was part of an effort by some House conservatives to keep pressure on Bush to uphold a campaign position against allowing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

In a reflection of the deeply personal nature of the debate, members on both sides of the issue at Tuesday's hearing mentioned friends, family members and acquaintances who have struggled with diseases that some form of stem cell research might help including diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

On Wednesday a Senate hearing will be convened by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), backers of federal spending on embryonic stem cell research. The hearing will include the release of a National Institutes of Health report.

Related topic galleries: The White House, Medical Research, Government, Agricultural Research and Technology, Reproduction, National Government, Diseases

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