NewsMax Wires
Saturday, Feb. 07, 2004

The group is trying to qualify a $3 billion bond proposition for the November ballot that would make California the first state in the nation - and the largest U.S. public entity - to fund such research.

The proposal would also fund laboratory cloning projects intended to create stem cells for regenerative and therapeutic medicine while specifically shunning cloning programs aimed at creating babies.

If passed, the measure would make $295 million available annually for 10 years, far exceeding the $10.7 million awarded by the federal government in 2002.

"California will be the center of stem cell research for the world," said real estate developer and campaign organizer Robert Klein, who has contributed $500,000 to the effort.

Klein's son suffers from diabetes, and he and like-minded patient advocates believe embryonic stem cell research could yield cures and treatments for this disease as well as spinal cord injuries and a wide range of other ailments.

Some researchers believe creating stem cells by cloning embryos in labs may eventually create therapies that won't lead to immune rejection problems in people.

The measure would prohibit funding for research that involves the destruction of embryos older than 12 days, which Klein and other supporters contend should not even be classified as fetal tissue.

California and New Jersey have both passed largely symbolic legislation supporting such research, which many religious and anti-abortion groups oppose.

"The technology is extremely questionable morally and practically," said Wesley J. Smith, a fellow at the conservative think tank Discovery Institute in Seattle. "Treating human life, however nascent, as a product is incredibly inhumane."

What's more, California is grappling with a large budget deficit, and any measures that put the state deeper in debt may face considerable opposition.

Executive Order

President Bush ordered the National Institutes of Health not to fund any research on stem cells harvested from embryos after Aug. 9, 2001. NIH identified 78 cell lines that met all the restrictions, and 12 of those lines are now available for study.

But many stem cell scientists say the policy severely restricts research. For instance, none of the cell lines available could be used to treat patients because they were grown using mouse cells and may contain rodent viruses.

"President Bush has set a policy that excludes a lot of research and that has really put a pall on the field," said campaign supporter Keith Yamamoto, vice dean for research at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

UCSF, a stem cell research pioneer, has opened a small off-campus laboratory that shuns federal funds so its researchers can work unfettered with embryos donated by fertility clinics. Yamamoto said the current political climate has slowed recruitment.

Yamamoto and other campaign backers said they expect the California initiative, if successful, to renew interest in the lagging field.

Since Bush announced his policy, leading U.S. universities say young researchers avoid the politically charged field and the few companies hoping to profit from the technology are experiencing financial difficulties.

Organizers said they've raised $2.5 million and intend to raise $20 million for the campaign. They said they've not approached the biotechnology industry for support, hoping to keep the issue focused on disease cures.

Campaign organizers need to gather 600,000 voter signatures and submit them to the California Secretary of State by April 16 to qualify for the November ballot.

Movie producers Janet and Jerry Zucker, the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation and the American Diabetes Association support the measure. So do several prominent university researchers - including Nobel laureates Paul Berg of Stanford University, UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop and California Institute of Technology head David Baltimore.

The measure would create a 29-member board appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, various other elected officials and University of California chancellors to dole out the grants.

Only California schools, institutes and companies would be eligible.

© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Editor's note:
Arnold Schwarzenegger `Terminates` Politics, Get the Story -- Click Here Now

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Stem Cell Research