White House says new stem cell method 'encouraging'

George W Bush

WASHINGTON - The White House today said it was encouraged by a new method for embryonic stem cell research, an advance that could help resolve President George W. Bush's objections to what he views as the destruction of life.

Bush used his first veto last month to block increased federal spending for such research, despite strong public support for the effort to combat diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

"The president believes (the new research) deserves a good look, he is encouraged that there are scientists who are continuing to look for innovative ways to do stem cell research that would not involve the destruction of embryos," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

But experts said the technique announced yesterday by Advanced Cell Technology won't resolve ethical debates and political battles that have divided the rest of the country for years.

Conservative religious groups, for example, said the Massachusetts company's announcement did not change their view the research destroyed potential human life.

Advocates of increased research said it was a vain attempt to resolve a debate about medical ethics through science.

"This isn't a technique that's going anywhere. This isn't an alternative to anything," said Arthur Caplan, director of the University of Pennsylvania Centre for Bioethics.

Stem cells, which can develop into any kind of body tissue, are prized by medical researchers who believe they can lead to tailored treatments for diseases including cancer and diabetes.

Though they are available from many sources many experts say the most powerful and versatile cells may be those taken from embryos. Religious conservatives oppose this process because those embryos are destroyed when the cells are removed.

Opinion polls show strong support for expanding federally backed embryonic stem cell research and the issue could figure prominently in November's congressional elections.

ACT's method, described in the science journal Nature, takes a single cell from an eight-celled embryo without harming it.

But that single cell must be combined with other cells harvested earlier, presumably from a process that destroyed embryos, said Michele Shoun, editor of Baptists for Life, a publication for ministers that opposes stem cell research involving embryos.

"I appreciate that someone is trying to work with our concerns, but I don't think they've quite reached that," Shoun said.

Richard Doerflinger, a bioethics expert with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the experiment was unethical because it involved discarding embryos.

"The Catholic Church is open to considering all ethically acceptable avenues of stem cell research. The new study ... however, raises more ethical questions than it answers," he said.

Stanford University medical researcher Bill Hurlbut, who sits on the President's Council for Bioethics, praised the study as a valiant attempt to build consensus, but said it did not answer many questions about the dangers involved in the process.

"This represents the right attitude, but I think there are other methods that will provide a wider range of cells and be easier to accomplish," he said.

- REUTERS