apt41-5551212

Florida State Representative Franklin Sands recently announced his intention to introduce legislation to encourage embryonic stem cell research in the Sunshine State. You can read about this in an article entitled "Fla. Lawmaker To Introduce Bill That Would Provide $15M for Embryonic Stem Cell Research; Measure Faces Strong Opposition.".

American Politics Today spoke this afternoon with Representative Sands about his proposed legislation and related subjects. You can listen to that conversation, in its entirety, by clicking here.

Representative Sands' bill will be known as the "Florida Biomedical Research and Quality of Life Act." It will prohibit "human cloning"; fund embryonic stem cell research at a rate of $15 million a year for 10 years, these funds to come from the Florida State General Fund; allow the use of otherwise-to-be-discarded human embryos created solely for purposes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) with the informed consent of those who created them and only if no one receives any payment along the way ("no trafficking"); involve research grants to both public and private institutions; include a "Biomedical Research Advisory Committee" and an "Oversight Committee," both of which will report to the State Secretary of Health; and probably be posted online early in September, 2005.

The creation of "customized" embryonic stem cells created through somatic cell nuclear transfer using nuclei from the cells of potential patients with injuries or illnesses that might be successfully treated with embryonic stem cells made through this process, as was announced on May 19, 2005, had been successfully carried out by a research team at Seoul National University in South Korea under the leadership of Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk will not be fundable under the terms of Representative Sands' legislation, which prohibits "human cloning."

For an in-depth exploration of current embryonic stem cell issues worldwide, click here.