Proponents Press Senate on Stem Cell Research Measure

Opponents say it is immoral to destroy human embryos for research. They point to preliminary evidence that other kinds of cells, which can be obtained harmlessly from adults, show many of the same properties as embryonic cells.

Under Bush's restrictions, announced on Aug. 9, 2001, scientists may use federal funds to study only cells derived from embryos destroyed before that date. That has put off-limits the many new stem cell colonies created in private and foreign labs since then.

Frist, said spokeswoman Amy Call, is "working with a number of colleagues on both sides of this issue to see if we can bring this up in a thoughtful and productive manner."

Members of Congress and Hill watchers said they expect Frist to bring up H.R. 810 this summer as part of a package with at least two related bills that conservatives want. That would provide political cover for senators who support the measure -- as a majority do -- but are from conservative states.

One of those bills would require the NIH to help find noncontroversial sources of embryonic stem cells, such as embryos engineered to contain fatal defects, which could be ethically destroyed because they could not become babies.

Another bill that sources said may be included would ban the cultivation of human fetuses (embryos more than 8 weeks old) just for research, and the gestation of human fetuses in animals -- experiments that conservatives say are on some scientists' wish list.

Proponents of H.R. 810 say they could live with such bills, as long as they do not harbor surprises in the fine print. But they bristle at opponents' assertion that privately funded labs have made NIH funding unnecessary.

Philanthropic funding of stem cell work is growing. In addition to Kriegstein's program at UCSF, programs backed by tens of millions of dollars have recently been launched at Harvard and the University of California at Irvine. Project A.L.S., a patient group that focuses on nerve-destroying Lou Gehrig's disease, announced last week that it was opening a private research facility in New York.

Several states -- including Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut and California -- have begun grant programs to support the field.

Still, said Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), who helped shepherd House passage of H.R. 810: "Private funds and states cannot begin to match the basic science that NIH can generate with broader research guidelines."

DeGette said she knows of at least seven seats in play this November in which candidates' positions on stem cells are shaping up as significant political divides. "It's beginning to percolate up in the elections," she said.

Even if the Senate passes a stem cell package, H.R. 810 is unlikely to become law, both sides agree. The president has made clear his intention to veto it if it arrives on his desk, and an override appears out of reach in the House.

"We don't have to choose between science and ethics," White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said. "We can continue to pursue both."