Maryland lawmakers to debate funding for stem cell research in state

? The divisive national debate about embryonic stem cell research will arrive in Annapolis today, when Maryland lawmakers will introduce legislation to spend state money on science that the federal government refuses to fund.

Modeled after a successful ballot initiative in California, the legislation calls for Maryland to spend $25 million a year on research that has been restricted by President Bush at the federal level.

Supporters say the state money is needed to maintain Maryland’s edge in the biotechnology sector and tout the promise that such research offers for treatment of debilitating conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

Embryonic stem cell research is strenuously opposed by people who believe that extracting cells from a viable embryo amounts to the destruction of human life.

“I’m sure that it’s going to be a tremendous battle,” said Sen. Paula Hollinger, D-Baltimore County, the chief sponsor of the bill in the Senate. “But this is such promising research — it seems like there’s a new breakthrough every day.”

House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, predicted in an interview that his chamber would pass the bill.

The politics are far more complicated for Senate leaders and for Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr., a Republican who has yet to take a position on state funding for stem cell research.

Hollinger leads the committee that will consider the bill in the Senate, where opponents have begun plotting a filibuster in hopes of defeating it on the floor.

Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said the governor would look closely at the bill and “remains very sympathetic to the biotech companies in Maryland.”

Bush in August 2001 limited federal spending for stem cell research to existing colonies of cells derived from unused embryos produced through in vitro fertilization and donated for research purposes.

Scientists say 22 colonies, called “lines,” fitting that description are available. Money from universities, charities or private donors can pay for research on other cell lines, but some scientists say the lack of federal support is slowing research.

Maryland is home to two major research universities that engage in stem cell research, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland at Baltimore, as well as more than 300 biotech companies, a small number of which are also involved in stem cell research.

With the exception of Hopkins, a pioneer in the field, most of that research involves adult stem cells, which are derived from bone marrow, blood, skin and other sources less controversial than embryos. Many scientists believe that embryonic stem cells have more promise, however, because they have the capacity to develop into many types of tissues.

The legislation explicitly bans human cloning in Maryland, a point supporters are emphasizing as they lobby wavering lawmakers.