Government
Bills would expand stem cell funding
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 16, 2005
Congressional lawmakers have introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow federal funding for research on new stem cell lines but explicitly ban human cloning.
The companion House and Senate bills also would prohibit the purchase or sale of unfertilized eggs and impose ethical requirements on scientists. Civil penalties for breaking the ethics rules would be up to $250,000 per violation. Criminal penalties for trying to clone humans could include up to 10 years in prison.
"Stem cell research is the bright new frontier of medicine," said Dianne Feinstein (D, Calif.), a sponsor of the bill. "But federal inaction has created a void, and this void has been only partially filled by states and by private entities."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/05/16/gvbf0516.htm.