Minnesota Independent

Ban on tax-funded stem cell research passes Senate, House

By Andy Birkey | 03.30.11 | 12:14 pm

A ban on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a technique used in some forms of stem cell research, passed the House and Senate floors on Tuesday evening in a pair of higher education budget bills. The bills would prohibit state or federal funding from going toward SCNT stem cell research. The two bills are headed to conference committee, where the two bodies will hash out the parts of the bills that differ. Gov. Mark Dayton indicated in a letter to legislators that he would veto a bill that contained the stem cell bans, citing them as policy issues that don’t belong in budget bills.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer. Image: YouTube

‘Cloning’ ban proponents muddle facts in stem cell debate

By Andy Birkey | 03.28.11 | 4:33 pm

Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, is adamant that a certain kind of stem cell research be banned. Her bill to criminalize somatic cell nuclear transfer was included in the health and human services omnibus bill currently under debate in the Senate, and she was successful in getting a weaker ban included in the higher education omnibus bill. The proposal has sparked a heated debate about whether the bill — and the testimony surrounding it — is misleading to the public on the topic of embryonic stem cell research. Republicans, however, have rejected an effort to clarify the debate.

Experts: Stem cell research ban could make criminals out of patients

By Andy Birkey | 03.23.11 | 10:55 am

A bill in the Minnesota Legislature that would ban some forms of stem cell research could have unintended consequences for patients and researchers if it becomes law. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act could cost the Minnesota biotech industry millions in lost research dollars and sales, and the bill could potentially turn certain stem cell patients into criminals if they return to Minnesota after receiving certain treatments outside the state.

Bill to criminalize embryonic stem cell research passes through House, Senate committees

By Andy Birkey | 03.18.11 | 9:36 am

Committees in both the Minnesota Senate and House passed a bill that would criminalize the somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) process in embryonic stem cell research as well as prohibit the products of that research from entering the state of Minnesota. Despite expert testimony that the bill would hamper medical research in Minnesota, it passed three key committees this week.

University slams anti-abortion group for false claims about cloning

By Andy Birkey | 06.03.09 | 12:18 pm

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, says the University of Minnesota is trying to clone human beings and is in violation of the law. The university says its research is legal and that the group is…