The politics of progress: How to continue stem cell research despite limitations

Work on embryonic stem cells proceeds as states and universities find ways to work around federal restrictions on access and funding.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Aug. 9, 2004.

University of Minnesota officials knew they would make some people angry when they decided to forgo federal funding and conduct research on human embryonic stem cells that are not on the National Institute of Health's approved stem cell registry

They made the decision last December but waited until the Minnesota Legislature ended its session in mid-June before embarking on a $50 million fund-raising campaign, because they could not gauge the impact the anger would have on their efforts.

"There was ... activity at the legislative level to promote stem cell research in the state and, in essence, to also defund the entire university if it did any human embryonic stem cell research," said University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute spokeswoman Sarah Youngerman.

The controversy surrounding embryonic stem cell research has abated little since President Bush announced Aug. 9, 2001, that the federal government would fund research on only the 78 stem cell lines in existence on that date. His administration has held firm to that policy, even though it has since become clear that only about one-third of the promised stem cell lines would be useable or available to researchers and even though some experts believe that stem cells created since Aug. 9, 2001, are of a higher quality than existing ones because they were not cultured with animal cells.

AMA policy approves of embryonic stem cell research but says physicians should be free to decide whether they want to participate in the research or use the products it could produce.