Press Release: April 2007 Archives

A broad coalition of Jewish groups applauded last week’s Senate passage of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would open the door to federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. But statements praising the Senate action barely concealed a deep gloom. Senate sponsors, while winning a majority, could not muster a veto-proof margin.

<a href="http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13927">Despite Senate Victory, Stem Cell Prospects ‘Bleak’ </a> (thejewishweek.com)

Pioneering British work on stem cells which could lead to life-saving medical therapies is being held up because government officials cannot agree on how to approve the cells for human use, scientists warned yesterday.

<a href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,2060655,00.html">Official indecision holding up potentially life-saving stem cell research, scientists say</a> (guardian.co.uk)

Yesterday I posted about Senator Liz Krueger's Stem Cell bill and her effort to finally get it out of committee. Today she moved to have the full state Senate consider that bill after many years in committee. Wanna guess what happened? I'll let Senator Krueger tell you. I just received this press release via email:

<a href="http://www.thealbanyproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=661">GOP Majority Refuses To Consider Liz Krueger's Stem Cell Bill </a> (thealbanyproject.com)

So it goes with the challenge to three stem-cell patents held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the 80-year-old group that helps UW-Madison patent and license the best ideas from researchers at UW-Madison. A preliminary decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office looks bad if you're watching this drama play out at home - but Wisconsin has yet to have its day in “court.”

<a href="http://wistechnology.com/article.php?id=3857">Here's why Wisconsin's stem cell patents are being challenged</a> (wistechnology.com)

A Texas House committee voted to bar state funding for embryonic stem cell research, regardless of whether restrictions on federal funding for the research are lifted in the future.

<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4721501.html">Panel OKs barring state funds for embryonic stem cell research</a> (chron.com)

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., issued a statement April 11 about the Senate vote to lift a ban on stem cell research.

"Stem cell research holds great hope of providing cures for chronic, incurable conditions from which millions of Americans suffer," Clinton said in the statement. Clinton, an original cosponsor, urged President Bush not to veto the legislation.

<a href="http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/columns/politics/doc46259faea37a0099241388.txt">Conservation easement concerns; Clinton on stem cell research</a> (poststar.com)

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks has reiterated his call for changes to the law allowing stem cell research in his state as the Victorian Parliament begins debating the issue today.

Mr Bracks said the change in the law will allow scientists to experiment on unfertilized eggs left over from IVF treatment and will benefit Victoria as the Australian leader in stem cell research.

<a href="http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007075503">Victorian Premier Backs Call For Stem Cell Research</a> (allheadlinenews.com)

Once again, the Congress and the President are heading toward a showdown on the issue of stem cell research. By a vote of 63-34, the Senate passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (S5), which eased the restrictions placed in 2001 on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research by President Bush. The House passed its version of the bill three months ago, by a vote of 253-174. President Bush has vowed to veto the bill: “This bill crosses a moral line that I and many others find troubling. If it advances all the way through Congress to my desk, I will veto it.” Although polls indicate that a majority of Americans support embryonic stem cell research, this means little to the President, who vetoed a similar bill passed by Congress last year.

<a href="http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islams_position_on_stem_cell_research/0013771">Islam's position on stem cell research </a> (theamericanmuslim.org)

Lawyers for groups on both sides of the embryonic stem cell research debate argued Monday on whether competing proposals to get the issue into the state constitution meet requirements that they are clear and simple enough to be placed on the ballot.

<a href="http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070416/APN/704162169">Court hears arguments on clarity of proposed stem cell ballot</a> (theledger.com)

      Several newspapers this week published editorials related to the Senate votes on Wednesday to pass two stem cell research-related bills. Federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by President Bush on that date. The Senate voted 63-34 to pass a bill (S 5) that would expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The bill, called the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, would allow federal funding for research using stem cells derived from human embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients. The Senate measure differs from a House-approved bill (HR 3) of the same name because it includes language that would require NIH to research and fund methods of creating embryonic stem cell lines without destroying embryos. Bush has threatened to veto the bill. The Senate also voted 70-28 to pass a bill (S 30) that would allow federal funding for stem cell research using embryos with no chance of survival. The legislation, known as the HOPE Act, would fund research on stem cells taken from "dead" human embryos or extracted from living embryos without destroying them. In addition, it would allow federal funding for research on stem cell lines derived from embryos that are not likely to survive during the freezing process or in the womb. According to Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), the measure also would promote research using stem cells derived from other sources, such as amniotic fluid (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/12). Summaries appear below.

<a href="http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=44267">Opinion | Editorials, Opinion Pieces Respond to Senate Approval of Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, HOPE Act</a> (kaisernetwork.org)

The dueling Senate stem cell bills, up today in Commerce, appear as though they're going to start moving at different speeds.

Originally, both bills had the exact same number of committee stops - five. Not anymore. Leadership removed two stops for Sen. Mike Haridopolos' stem cell bill, which is similar to the House bill that Gov. Charlie Crist supports and only funds adult stem cell research. After it passes today, it goes to appropriations and then a floor vote.

<a href="http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2007/04/nonembryonic_st.html">Non-Embryonic Stem Cell Bill Moving Faster</a> (blogs.tampabay.com)

The Senate voted 63-34 last week to end the Bush administration's ban on federal funding to expand embryonic stem cell research.

President Bush has vowed to veto the legislation.

Advocates of embryonic stem cell research say it could lead to cures for diseases, including Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes.

<a href="http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2007/04/16/WashingtonDCBureau/341742.html">Senate approves expanded stem cell research </a> (arkansasnews.com)

Federal regulators said they are preparing to toss out three key patents related to human embryonic stem cells, an action that could ease concerns over commercial control of the nascent work.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, an arm of the University of Wisconsin that controls the school's patents, owns the patents and has 60 days to respond and seek to change the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's ruling, issued Friday. The ruling was made public Monday by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and the Public Patent Foundation, which challenged the validity of the patents.

<a href="http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/17016524.htm">Federal regulators to toss three stem cell patents</a> (contracostatimes.com)