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Scripps Dives into Research on Embryonic Stem Cells
By Deana Poole, Jennifer Sorentrue and Alan Gomez
The Palm Beach Post
11 March 2006
The Scripps Research Institute will take its first major plunge into the controversial study of embryonic stem cells as part of a consortium of three California-based bioscience institutes and a university pushing to build their state's first center exclusively for the research.
Scripps, The Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the Salk Institute plan to push for state money that would allow its center to rise on the University of California San Diego campus, officials confirmed Friday. About $3 billion in state grants is available under a state stem-cell initiative approved in 2004.
"It's the coming together of the four leading biomedical science institutions here," said Scripps spokesman Keith McKeown in California. "We're all within almost shouting distance of each other. . . . We decided that by combining the knowledge and experience of our scientists, we'd be building something that was incredibly robust in the area of stem-cell research."
A formal announcement is expected next week. The initiative, in the works for about a year, was first reported Thursday in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Scripps' limited stem-cell research has historically focused mostly on cells collected from adult tissue, searching for chemical triggers to activate people's existing stem cells. The Burnham Institute, which has been quietly negotiating a deal to expand to Florida, conducts embryonic stem-cell research.
As in the dispute over abortion, the controversy surrounding embryonic stem-cell research centers around whether an embryo represents a human life. It's a debate that often falls along religious and political lines. Florida is no exception.
Bush sees moral wrong
Gov. Jeb Bush, who helped usher Scripps into the state, is opposed to embryonic stem-cell research and won't support any legislation that would give state money toward the research.
His spokesman, Russell Schweiss, on Friday said Bush still believes the research amounts to taking one life to save another, and the state's commitment of $310 million to Scripps and efforts to lure Burnham are not contradictory to that stance.
"Bioscience is important in the discovery of new health-care techniques and cures for diseases. You can't base your beliefs of bioscience based on one practice," Schweiss said. "And to assume that they're doing stem research in California and that they're then going to do stem-cell research in Florida is not a safe assumption."
Indeed, McKeown said Scripps' involvement in stem-cell research is limited to California.
"We don't have any plans that I know of to do the same thing in Florida," he said.
Florida's contract with Scripps doesn't prohibit or restrict the institute from conducting stem-cell research. Scripps President Richard Lerner previously has said he would not have agreed to any restraints.
Stem cells differ from other cells in two respects, according to the National Institutes of Health. One, they are unspecialized cells that renew themselves through cell division. And two, under certain physiological or experimental conditions, they can be made to become cells with special functions, such as the beating cells of the heart muscle.
Scientists hope that stem cells can provide a basis for treating diseases such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes and heart disease. Laboratory research may show whether they could be valuable for other uses, such as screening new drugs or toxins, the NIH says.
In the new effort in California, Scripps' contribution will be primarily its expertise in chemistry, McKeown said.
"We have not been doing very much with stem cells here. But we're very strong in chemistry," McKeown said. "There's an aspect of stem-cell research that will rely heavily on chemistry."
A spokeswoman for The Burnham Institute said it was too early to say whether that research would be done in Florida if the expansion plan moves forward.
"We are not shy about the fact we do stem-cell research," said Nancy Beddingfield, institute relations director.
From California, Beddingfield said it would be difficult for the collaborative effort to move forward without state money. That's because only a limited number of embryonic cells have been approved by the National Institutes of Heath. Federal research money cannot be used on unapproved cells.
In Florida, attempts to garner legislative support to use taxpayer money for the research has been difficult.
State Sen. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and state Rep. Franklin Sands, D-Weston, filed a bill that would allot $150 million over 10 years in state dollars to fund stem-cell research, limited to adult stem cells or embryos that would otherwise be destroyed. Sands' bill (HB 233) remains stalled before its first committee in the House, and Klein's bill (SB 468) has not been heard before any of the six committees it must clear before reaching the floor, meaning the likelihood of either bill passing its chambers is low.
Klein said he discussed his bill with Bush this week. "He's going to take a look at the bill and get back to me - no commitments either way," Klein said.
State Rep. Ed Homan is one of the few Republicans who has pushed not only for embryonic stem-cell research, but for the state to pour millions into it.
"This state has always been cutting edge. We're doing stuff that other states aren't doing, and other states are routinely following our lead on big issues," Homan said. "So why are we giving away the leadership on this particular issue? The answer is the politics behind it. It's just a very conservative climate at the moment."
Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson continues to lead a statewide campaign asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment that would allow taxpayer money to be used to pay for embryonic stem-cell research. He hopes to get it on the 2008 ballot.
Dueling efforts
Aaronson used his time in Tallahassee this week during Palm Beach County Days to push for his cause. On Friday, he commended the efforts in California and said Florida should follow suit in supporting stem-cell research.
"Here we are a state that's spending close to a billion to bring Scripps here, and we're here the ones not wanting to do the funding," Aaronson said. "Why would they not want to do it here, in laboratories that they're going to have here? I think our state government ought to reconsider funding for stem-cell research. We can be here on the cutting edge as well."
Susan Cutaia, a Boca Raton mortgage broker leading the effort to block Aaronson's initiative, urged the use of adult stem cells instead of embryonic cells.
"All the good work that's being done in adult stem-cell research, why are we not just going forward on that?"
Cutaia says using public money for embryonic stem-cell research is unfair to people who "don't feel that it is ethical or moral."
Cutaia's group, Citizens for Science and Ethics, has collected 59,000 signatures to place on the ballot a constitutional amendment that would bar using taxpayer money for embryonic stem-cell research, she said.
deana_poole@pbpost.com
Scripps 101
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