By Jeremy Adragna
C & G Staff Writer

LANSING — Whether or not embryonic stem cell research will ever reveal the cure for cancer, spinal cord injury or Parkinson’s disease remains a question for scientists working in academia.

Researchers at the University of Michigan are currently undertaking studies to help determine the answer, and a group known as Cure Michigan wants to expand their capabilities with an amendment to the state constitution.

Proposal 2 has been cleared for the November ballot and calls for the expansion of human embryo research on tissue that is either unusable in fertility treatment or is donated by a patient seeking fertility treatment.

The amendment would also prohibit the buying and selling of human embryos for the research and restrict the extraction of stem cells after 14 days from the point division begins.

The law would also prevent the creation of new laws, locally or at the state level, that would further discourage stem cell research in the future.

“It’s about cures,” said Chris DeWitt, a spokesman for Cure Michigan. “It provides for safe and ethical research that is permitted under federal law. It keeps and enforces Michigan’s ban on cloning and allows doctors and researchers to use voluntarily donated embryos to create cures and save lives.”

DeWitt said that embryos used in such research would come from women who donate their eggs to a fertility clinic. When those eggs are fertilized to become embryos and later deemed to be unsuitable for reproductive treatment the woman is undergoing, they are typically discarded with other medical waste. Instead, the embryos would be used in research under the proposed amendment as scientists attempt to combat some of the most baffling disorders that humans face.

Some believe stem cells from human embryos are more dynamic than those that can be extracted from adult tissue. While adult stem cells can be used to create certain cell types, embryonic stem cells can be used to make almost any complex cell in the body.

But there are two sides to this argument over expanding stem cell research in the state. A group known as Michigan Citizens Against Unrestricted Science and Experimentation, based in Lansing, is opposing the amendment.

“We believe that Proposal 2 goes too far in allowing unrestricted and unregulated experimentation on human embryos and stem cell research,” said Dave Doyle of Mi-CAUSE. “Embryonic stem cell research is legal in Michigan today.”  

Doyle argues the amendment could deplete the effectiveness of a ban on human cloning already on the books in Michigan.

“If you read the fine print as you should,” said Doyle, “it says nothing in this section shall alter Michigan’s ban on cloning. But it would allow the law on cloning to change. This proposal allows it to change.”

Proponents of stem cell research said the amendment would alter Michigan’s law that currently prohibits all forms of human cloning and would break down cases into two categories — reproductive cloning, to create humans, and therapeutic cloning, to create tissue.

Currently, there is no distinction between the two types in the state law and Cure Michigan believes the state should allow for therapeutic cloning.

To view the full text of the amendment, visit CureMichigan.com.