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LINCOLN — University of Nebraska scientists will move forward on all aspects of stem cell research after the Board of Regents rejected an attempt to restrict the research.
“We're not treading lightly any more,” said Harold Maurer, chancellor of the NU Medical Center.
“This is the most promising area of research in the 21st century,” he said. “Our goal is to try to find cures for certain diseases that afflict mankind, diseases that can't be cured with a pill.”
In a decision that gained national attention, the regents split 4-4 on a resolution that would have restricted NU's human embryonic stem cell research to stem cell lines previously approved under the administration of President George W. Bush.
While president, Bush restricted human embryonic stem cell research to lines of cells existing as of August 2001. After President Barack Obama took office this year, those guidelines were changed to allow the approval of additional lines of stem cells.
The resolution would have imposed some of the toughest restrictions nationally on stem cell research.
Scientists have said NU would have been the first public university in the country to impose tougher research restrictions than those called for by state and federal law.
Maurer said limiting the university to the Bush lines would, in effect, have ended the research in Nebraska, because those aging cell lines are losing their usefulness and most of them are not on track to be reapproved by the National Institutes of Health.
University officials also argued at the meeting that passing the resolution would have damaged the university's reputation, made it more difficult to recruit scientists and jeopardized the opportunity for millions in federal research dollars and grants.
Maurer, who emphasized that NU researchers do not themselves destroy human embryos, said embryonic stem cells are a critical component of the university's regenerative medicine program.
He said the program includes research on adult stem cells and cells that are reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells, as well as the study of molecular and genetic structures.
Maurer said there are 30 to 35 scientists at the medical center and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who currently work in research areas relating to human embryonic stem cell research.
The resolution required five votes from the eight-member board to be enacted.
Regent Jim McClurg of Lincoln, who in 2006 won the endorsement of Nebraska Right to Life because of his position opposing embryonic stem cell research, cast the deciding vote against the proposal.
McClurg was one of five regents elected with the support of abortion opponents and the only one of the five who did not co-sponsor the resolution.
He said a state law passed in 2008 should be the governing principle on the issue.
That measure, Legislative Bill 606, barred the use of state funds and facilities to clone or destroy embryos for research purposes, but it also allowed embryonic stem cell research to continue under federal guidelines.
“I believe LB 606 establishes appropriate ethical and legal boundaries for embryonic stem cell research in Nebraska,” McClurg said.
Maurer praised McClurg for making a courageous vote, but McClurg said the decision was no more difficult for him than it was for the seven other members of the board.
During Friday's hearing, opponents argued that the university doesn't need to use stem cells from destroyed embryos to be on the cutting edge of stem cell research.
The regents' decision left anti-abortion groups disappointed but unsurprised. They said they would regroup before deciding their next move.
Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, said she and others began to doubt McClurg would vote their way after he made noncommittal comments about his position in recent weeks.
She said McClurg's position as chairman of the board of Bio Nebraska, a group that promotes biomedical research and biotechnology for economic development, made her question his continued support of restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
After the meeting, McClurg said he still considers himself “pro-life” but acknowledged that the vote is likely to cost him the support of Nebraska Right to Life and other anti-abortion groups if he decides to run again in 2012.
McClurg holds a doctorate in biochemistry from the NU Medical Center and spent 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry. He said his position on the research has changed during the past three years.
“I've had a pretty intensive crash course on embryonic stem cell research,” McClurg said.
The regents' decision came after nearly two hours of passionate testimony on the subject.
Rick Kolkman of North Platte said the resolution would have stopped the medical center's momentum on becoming a beacon medical institution.
He said he takes exception to people who want their religious beliefs to replace university policy.
“Why are their beliefs better than mine?” asked Kolkman, who added that he is religious and opposed to abortion.
Dr. John Safranek, a Nebraska physician, said proponents of the resolution do not want to see any single religious tradition upheld. He said the proposed restrictions would acknowledge that an embryo is an embodiment of a human being.
“Each one of us has been a human being at every point of our existence,” he said.
World-Herald staff writer Jeffrey Robb contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com
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