New Jersey Stem-Cell Researchers Urge Funding

By Kaitlin Gurney, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Nov. 22–NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — New Jersey stem-cell researchers gathered at a statewide conference yesterday and marveled at their good fortune: Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey and Gov.-elect Jon S. Corzine have both declared research-grant funding for the burgeoning field a top priority.

But after more than two years of listening to politicians pay “lip service” to stem-cell research without offerering funding, scientific leaders attending the state’s Scientific Symposium on Stem Cell Research warned that there was little time left before prized researchers and biotechnology companies move to states such as California that are already offering these incentives.

“There is a small window for New Jersey to make a financial commitment,” said Wise Young, one of the founding directors of the New Brunswick-based Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey. “If politicians don’t do something in the next year, they should kiss the effort goodbye.”

In his State of the State address in January, Codey proposed a $380 million investment in stem-cell research — a $150 million laboratory for Young’s Stem Cell Institute and a $230 million bond referendum for research grants — that many legislators have argued the cash-strapped state cannot afford. Codey, who has less than two months in office before he will step down, has said that passing these two initiatives will be one of his main efforts during the Legislature’s lame-duck session next month.

Corzine made his commitment to stem-cell research one of the centerpieces of his campaign. He would prefer to pass his own plan for a stem-cell bond referendum of $250 million or more he calls the Edison Innovation Fund but also supports Codey’s efforts, said Wali Abdul-Salaam, a policy adviser with Corzine’s transition team.

As long as voters have the chance to approve a bond-referendum proposal on the November 2006 ballot, scientists say which politician’s plan ends up passing is unimportant.

“My sense is that this is happening, but the particulars are tricky,” said Ira Black, a neuroscientist who founded the Stem Cell Institute with Young. “Rather than count each plan’s dollars and cents, we’re just rooting for these efforts to move forward.”

David Beck, president of the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, cautioned that it may be harder to persuade lawmakers to put the referendum on the ballot than it would be to convince voters themselves.

Foes of embryonic stem-cell research, which uses cells formed in the first days of pregnancy, consider the science tantamount to abortion and have already promised to lobby against any state-funded effort that would not explicitly bar work on embryos.

Proponents of such research say the embryonic stem cells hold the most promise for research that could lead to cures for spinal-cord injuries, diabetes and other diseases.

Some abortion foes attended the symposium yesterday, encouraging scientists to investigate using adult stem cells culled from spinal-cord fluid instead.

“The Legislature had a lot of courage a couple of years ago, when we became the second state to legalize stem-cell research,” Beck said. “I hope they’ll have the courage to follow up on that effort.”

The state will announce an initial $5 million in grants — funded from the state’s current $28 billion budget — on Dec. 16. The New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology received 71 applications for awards of up to $300,000.

The $5 million alone will not advertise New Jersey as a haven for stem-cell research unless it is followed up by a more significant stem-cell bond referendum, said Howard Shapiro, chairman of the state’s Stem Cell Ethics Advisory Panel and the former president of Princeton University.

“New Jersey is well-positioned to stand out in this field, but the bond issue is really key,” he said.

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