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FLORIDA LAWMAKERS ARE ANCHORING STEM CELL
CAMPAIGN ON NEW SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
August 15, 2005
JILL BARTON - Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH -- Lately when Palm Beach County Commissioner
Burt Aaronson speaks to a crowd, he starts with a series of questions.
"Who knows someone with Alzheimer's, diabetes, a spinal cord injury,
Parkinson's or heart problems?" he asks. "And who wants their tax dollars to
search for the most promising cures?"
Both questions typically bring everyone in the room into agreement.
But then it gets murky. Aaronson talks about the medical potential of stem
cells from embryos and the need to use public money to explore the
possibilities.
Florida voters might be able to address those difficult topics next year if
Aaronson and other lawmakers succeed in putting a proposed constitutional
amendment on the ballot. The amendment would allow public funds to be
used for research on embryonic stem cells.
Lawmakers are anchoring the stem cell debate with the arrival of the
prestigious Scripps Research Institute and the $800 million of public money
promised to the biotech venture.
"What better place to ask for stem cell research than the state of Florida,
especially since we're bringing Scripps here and other research companies?
Why tie their hands behind their back, or certainly tie one hand behind their
back?" Aaronson said.
Embryonic stem cells are formed in the early days after conception and can
turn into any tissue in the body. Many scientists hope to one day harness
them to grow replacement tissue to treat diabetes, spinal cord injuries and
other diseases.
The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla does not use embryonic stem cells
and has no plans for the research at its new Palm Beach County campus.
But the institute works with mouse stem cells and human adult stem cells,
particularly for its research on macular degeneration, a disorder that causes
vision loss.
"We're not using embryonic stem cells, but we never say never," Scripps
spokesman Keith McKeown said. "Obdirection, we could rethink that."
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