Politics Updates

Politics Updates

In Maryland, the Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich has announced that he will propose spending $20 million of state funds on stem cell research. The story is reported in the Washington Post, among other sources. It is undetermined whether the money will be spent on embryonic stem cell research, and the proposal appears to lack a lot of specifics now. The Maryland Gazette reports that he will be issuing a “major statement on stem cell research” today.

In New York, a $300 million stem cell research bill passed in the State Assembly. The New York Daily News reports that “Gov. Pataki has been on the fence so far on public funding for the controversial research.” The bill creates a state Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine. Another report is in the Albany Business Journal. The bill has been delivered to the State Senate, which has referred it to the health committee, according to the NY state legislature’s web site. It bans reproductive cloning but permits therapeutic cloning, which it defines as “creating a human embryo through somatic cell nuclear transfer, other than reproductive cloning, for the purpose of medical or scientific research or medical treatment.”

In Delaware, the scheduled vote on a stem cell research bill may be delayed. Some amendments have been made to the bill, and the presumed vote is narrow. One supporter of the bill is scheduled to have surgery, so other supporters may delay the vote until her return. The story is covered in the News Journal (Delaware online).

Insulin and Embryonic Stem Cells

Insulin and Embryonic Stem Cells

A recent study by researchers at Brown University has concluded that embryonic stem cells induced to form insulin-producing Islet-like cell clusters do not actually produce new insulin. The news is reported on Genetic Engineering News from a press release.

The researchers examined mouse ESCs that were being cultured to produce insulin. They added human and bovine insulin to the culture, and then demonstrated that the insulin the mouse cells were producing was in fact human or bovine insulin from the culture.

While this seems like a setback in using ESCs to help treat diabetes, the authors did find that in previous studies some mouse islet-like cells derived from mouse embryonic stem cells did have the capacity to produce small amounts of insulin. Dr. Ian Wilmut, the scientist who cloned Dolly (he was not a member of the research team), was quoted as saying that “These results provide clarification of a very important issue.” Even if the immediate results do not seem promising, understanding what is not happening is very important in deriving new experiments and research.