Stem Cell Politics in Wisconsin

Stem Cell Politics in Wisconsin

This week the Wisconsin State Senate will begin discussion of a bill to ban human cloning. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the debate is likely to focus on the question of whether embryonic cloning should be prohibited along with reproductive cloning. “Therapeutic cloning” would clone embryos for the purpose of obtaining embryonic stem cells, and the embryos would then be destroyed. Current stem cell research does not include cloning as a procedure. The governor of Wisconsin, Democrat Jim Doyle, has said he would veto a bill which includes a ban on embryonic cloning.

The article quotes opponents of the bill as saying that a ban on embryonic cloning would cause the state to be perceived as “anti-science,” and drive researchers to other states such as California which do fund stem cell research. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has an active Stem Cell Research Center, and in April the University announced the formation of a new Regenerative Medicine program. James Thomson of the University derived the world’s first embryonic stem cells in 1998.

Since the article is about the nature of the debate, it largely consists of quotations from people for and against embryonic stem cell research, and does not provide any scientific or research news. A PDF copy of the bill is available on the Wisconsin State Legislature web site. The Bill is SB 243.