WASHINGTON — When Congress returns from its summer break this week, one of its biggest fights with President Bush is sure to turn on some very tiny things: 64 microscopic sets of human embryo cells, some of them in India, Sweden and Australia.
These are the only embryonic stem cells that Bush has said can be used in federally funded research into cures for disease. On Wednesday, the Senate holds the first of at least three hearings to investigate whether all 64 sets of cells are truly "robust," "viable" and useful to researchers, as the Bush administration has said.
Some lawmakers suspect they are not. If enough of the cells turn out to be as fragile and untested as some of their owners have reported, then pressure is sure to grow for Congress to overturn the strict limitations on stem cell research that Bush imposed three weeks ago.
"I've seen those 64 stem cell lines evaporate," said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). "The 19 in Sweden are down to three. The seven in India may be zero. . . . If it turns out that the situation is not adequate for research, there's going to be a lot of sentiment in Congress to legislate."
Whether or not legislation gains momentum, the stem cell issue is likely to generate wide debate this fall in Congress--and beyond. Many lawmakers have already said they want to look not only at the number of cell lines available but also at patent rules and whether the Bush policy will cause a "brain drain" of U.S. researchers to countries with more liberal rules. Already, one prominent stem cell researcher, Roger Pedersen of UC San Francisco, is moving to England.
Among opponents of the research, there is little evidence of an effort in Congress to ban all funding for experiments using embryo cells. However, some state legislatures are taking up the issue.
In Ohio, lawmakers are considering a resolution that would ask Congress to bar all federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. In Nebraska, lawmakers this year voted to send some of the state's tobacco settlement money to three universities but to bar them from using it for embryonic stem cell research.
The Senate hearings will be the first major opportunity for lawmakers to revisit the stem cell debate since Aug. 9, when Bush announced his policy.
Before then, well over 60 senators had asked Bush to support some kind of federal funding for the research. A clear majority of House members also favored funding, despite opposition from the top four House Republican leaders, including Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.
