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Legislation would offer support of state to ensure labs remain in Mass.

Massachusetts lawmakers today will introduce a bill intended to preserve the state’s lead in stem cell research and prevent biotech companies and academics who do the research from moving to other states or overseas.

By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe Staff

If enacted, the bill would explicitly authorize the controversial research and allow the donation of embryos from fertility treatments for stem cell research.

The bill would also set up a government-administered fund to support stem cell research, to be headed by the state commissioner of public health.

But some scientists said the most important thing to them is to know the state supports their research, despite the larger controversy over using stem cells harvested from embryos.

”The scientists working in Massachusetts need to know they’ll have freedom to pursue their work without the risk of it being buried in shifting political sands,” said Dr. George Q. Daley, a fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge who is researching how to develop embryonic mouse cells into mature blood cells. ”We want to make sure that Massachusetts is viewed favorably as a home for stem cell research.”

California in September became the first state to enact a law advocating and supporting stem cell research. A bill is pending in New Jersey, and one is expected to be introduced in the Pennsylvania Legislature next year.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that make up embryos at early stages of development. The cells have the ability to turn into any type of tissue within the body. That gives them tremendous potential as therapies for diseases caused by genetic defects and degenerative diseases in which parts of the body lose their ability to function.

But some Americans object to the use for research purposes of embryos, which can potentially develop into fetuses and babies. President Bush drew a line in the sand last year when he restricted federal funding to research using work involving tissue from about 70 stem cell colonies already being grown in labs. State laws would not lift the federal funding restrictions.

Some researchers say it is unlikely the federal government would enact further restrictions. But that makes the state legislation even more important. ”It’s going to be fought out in each of the states, and there’ll be a patchwork quilt of legislation,” Daley said.

Daley was one of several researchers and industry officials who briefed legislators at the State House Monday.

State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem, Democrat of Newton, said she sponsored the bill to keep research firms in the state. ”We want to encourage them to stay here and not move to California or England,” she said.

Industry executives agree with the economic development angle.

”If you want to remain on the cutting edge, you have to support this type of research,” said Alison Taunton-Rigby, president of Forester Biotech, a consulting firm working with early stage biotech companies. ”This is going to produce the companies and businesses of the future.”

If the bill passes in the next legislative session, it seems likely the new governor would sign it.

”Mitt Romney supports stem cell research,” said Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor-elect’s spokesman. ”He believes the growth of our biotech industry at least partially depends on this type of research, and he also has a personal interest because this research might one day produce a therapy to treat his wife’s multiple sclerosis.”

The push to enact stem-cell research bills in states comes after opponents of such research sought to block the work by enacting bills preventing cloning or banning the research. Most of those measures failed, with Iowa enacting a ban on all types of cloning, including research, according to the Biotechnology Industry Association, an industry trade group.

”Now, supporters of this research are promoting pro-research bills,” said Michael Werner, vice president of ethics for the association. The group is working to educate lawmakers on the science behind stem cells.

The Massachusetts bill would establish a review board that would ensure the scientific merits of stem cell research. It would also create a committee to ”advance” stem cell research and monitor ethical issues. The committee would advise the commissioner of public health on the distribution of money from the research trust fund. Finally, the bill would ban any cloning intended to reproduce a human being.

Beyond the technical provisions, some scientists said they would feel more comfortable undertaking projects knowing that their work was endorsed by the state.

”When you’re doing a science project that takes five years, you want to be sure you’re able to do the research,” said Dr. Leonard Zon, a professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Boston who conducts research using zebrafish to better understand how stem cells develop into different types of tissues. ”You want a comfort factor, and you want to know the state is behind you. This kind of research is more likely to be conducted in states that pass these resolutions.”

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at [email protected].

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/338/business/Bill_aims_to_foster_stem_cell_work+.shtml

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