Minnesota Legislature / Legislator challenges U stem cell scientist

02/23/2007

BY JEREMY OLSON
Pioneer Press


A lawmaker used a House committee hearing on embryonic stem cell research funding Thursday to challenge a University of Minnesota scientist on whether her work violates state law.

Rep. Dan Severson, R-Sauk Rapids, said a 1973 state statute on human research appears to make embryonic research by the U's Meri Firpo illegal.

"I think in this particular case the experiments Mrs. Firpo is doing are a gross misdemeanor," he said.

Firpo responded that she has been assured by U leaders that embryonic stem cell research is permitted under that statute, and a research analyst for the higher education and work force development committee said the statute applies to a relatively narrow definition of human life.

The exchange nonetheless marked an often-tense hearing in which opponents challenged the morality of spending state tax dollars on embryonic stem cell research. The prolonged debate forced the committee to delay a vote until it meets again Tuesday.

The bill's author, Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, said the legislation is needed to "make it absolutely clear that embryonic stem cell research is consistent with Minnesota law." The bill doesn't recommend special funding but would allow the U to use general research funding on embryonic research.

Stem cells are known as master cells, creating all the other cells and tissues in the body. While they can be derived from adults, those taken from human embryos have properties that may make them more effective in discovering treatments for chronic diseases.

Federal funding currently is restricted to a few existing embryonic stem cell lines that were created in 2001 or earlier, and the University of Minnesota, for now, has adopted the same policy over spending state tax dollars on embryonic research.

Firpo created two of the federally approved lines but said they have much less potential clinical value than cell lines she has created since then. She was recruited to Minnesota in 2005 to focus on embryonic research to treat diabetes.

Jackie Hunt Christensen of the Parkinson's Action Network testified that many people with severe diseases want embryonic research to happen: "This is not a liberal fringe issue. It is something that strikes at the heart of tens of thousands of Minnesota families."

She noted the embryos in the research are left over from infertility procedures and might otherwise be discarded. However, Bishop Richard Pates of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis testified that this doesn't give researchers the right to use them.

"The so-called excess embryos in any situation," he said, "should not become fodder for lethal experimentation simply because they may die soon anymore than a prisoner condemned to death or a terminally ill patient should."