Maryland is about to become the fourth state--after New Jersey, California, and Connecticut--to create its own human embryonic stem cell research program after Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich pledged to sign a bill passed last week by state lawmakers.
The bill, a 5-year authorization that sets up a commission to oversee the work, is the result of some fancy footwork by the Democrat-controlled legislature that avoids any mention of "human embryos" and substitutes the term "material." But it defines stem cells as cells that "divide indefinitely" and give rise to "many" cell types, thus excluding most adult stem cells. The bill also outlaws reproductive cloning. Although it doesn't forbid research cloning, it authorizes funds only for research on embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics. A separate spending bill included $15 million for the work next year.
Curt Civin, a stem cell researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, welcomes the law, saying Maryland's investment might eventually be "comparable" to the $300-million-a-year California program on a per capita basis. Supporters say they expect additional state funding if Ehrlich loses his reelection bid in November, as Republican lawmakers whittled down an initial plan to spend $25 million.
