U-turn on stem cells fails to stir scientists

Scientists at American universities were largely indifferent to last month's unexpected congressional decision to allow research using stem cells from embryos created by in vitro fertilisation, writes Jon Marcus in Boston.

Many universities have already largely bypassed federal restrictions on stem-cell research by forgoing federal grant money for their work.

Scientists say they would much rather use stem cells created through nuclear transfer, also known as therapeutic cloning, than from IVF.

"This legislation doesn't address that at all. It's all well and good to get new lines, but this is just a small aspect," said one official at Stanford University, which has established the Stanford Institute for Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine.

Embryos created through therapeutic cloning - implanting the nucleus of a cell from one adult into an egg from another - allows greater flexibility in research, the official said.

Ignoring threats of a presidential veto, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 238 to 194 to allow federal research on stem cells from human embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics.

The measure must be taken up by the Senate, and if President George W. Bush goes ahead with his threatened veto, there are not enough votes in Congress to override it.

Academics said they were heartened that so many lawmakers were on the record backing stem-cell research of some kind. But they said stem cells from frozen IVF embryos were predominantly from relatively well-off white couples.

"These cell lines are useless for studying diseases prevalent among certain races," the Stanford official said.

Several states, including California, have allocated billions of dollars to stem-cell research to make up for the federal ban. But the restriction still creates problems for scientists, mainly because it prohibits them from doing stem-cell research using facilities funded by federal money.