[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 51 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 51

 To derive human pluripotent stem cell lines using techniques that do 
                      not knowingly harm embryos.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 4, 2007

  Mr. Isakson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To derive human pluripotent stem cell lines using techniques that do 
                      not knowingly harm embryos.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapy 
Enhancement Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) intensify research that may result in improved 
        understanding of or treatments for diseases and other adverse 
        health conditions; and
            (2) promote the derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines 
        without the creation of human embryos for research purposes and 
        discarding, destroying, or knowingly harming a human embryo.

SEC. 3. HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL RESEARCH.

    Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 498C the following:

``SEC. 409J. HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL RESEARCH.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct and support basic 
and applied research to develop techniques for the isolation, 
derivation, production, or testing of pluripotent stem cells that have 
the flexibility of embryonic stem cells (whether or not they have an 
embryonic source), and may result in improved understanding of or 
treatments for diseases and other adverse health conditions, provided 
that such isolation, derivation, production, or testing will not 
involve--
            ``(1) the creation of a viable human embryo or embryos for 
        research purposes; or
            ``(2) the destruction or discarding of a human embryo or 
        embryos, or knowingly subjecting a human embryo or embryos to 
        risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research 
        on fetuses in utero under section 498(b) of this Act and 
        section 46.204(b) of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations.
    ``(b) Guidelines.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary, after consultation with the 
Director, shall issue final guidelines that--
            ``(1) provide guidance concerning the next steps required 
        for additional research, which shall include a determination of 
        the extent to which specific techniques may require additional 
        basic or animal research to ensure that any research involving 
        human cells using these techniques would clearly be consistent 
        with the standards established under subsection (a);
            ``(2) prioritize research with the greatest potential for 
        near-term clinical benefit; and
            ``(3) consistent with subsection (a), take into account 
        techniques outlined by the President's Council on Bioethics and 
        any other appropriate techniques and research.
    ``(c) Reporting Requirements.--Not later than January 1 of each 
year, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate 
committees of the Congress a report describing the activities carried 
out under this section during the fiscal year, including a description 
of the research conducted under this section.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed as altering the policy in effect on the date of enactment of 
this section regarding the eligibility of stem cell lines for funding 
by the National Institutes of Health.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Human embryo or embryos.--The term `human embryo or 
        embryos' includes any organism, not protected as a human 
        subject under part 46 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, 
        as of the date of enactment of this section, that is derived by 
        fertilization, parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means 
        from one or more human gametes or human diploid cells.
            ``(2) Pluripotent stem cells.--The term `pluripotent stem 
        cells' means precursor cells that are capable both of 
        perpetuating themselves as stem cells and of producing all or 
        almost all the cell types of the developing body.
            ``(3) Stem cell line.--The term `stem cell line' means stem 
        cells which have been cultured under in vitro conditions that 
        allow proliferation without differentiation from months to 
        years.
            ``(4) Viable.--The term `viable' means material obtained 
        from the in vitro fertilization process that is transferable 
        into the womb.''.
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