The Daily Northwestern takes a look at proposals for public funding of an Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute and the science behind stem cell based regenerative medicine. "Professors conducting stem cell research at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine said they support a state proposal to implement a 6 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. If passed, the proposal would fund roughly $100 million a year specifically for stem cell research." The new technology of therapeutic cloning is a focus - it is required to produce stem cell lines for research into the biochemistry and genetics of currently incurable diseases, as well as some of the other promising uses of embryonic stem cells. Therapeutic cloning is still under threat in the US due to pending federal anti-research legislation.
Link: http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/07/41de474a34dfc