WASHINGTON -- Funding of human stem cell research by the National Institutes of Health would violate a federal law, 70 House members told the Clinton administration.

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, the lawmakers objected to plans by the National Institutes of Health to fund research using stem cells obtained from human embryos or fetuses.

Stem cells are basic biological building blocks. Some forms of stem cells extracted from embryos or fetuses theoretically have the ability to create any organ or any tissue. Scientists say that by guiding the growth of these cells it might be possible to culture new organs to replace ailing hearts, or neurons for the treatment of brain disease or injury, or insulin-producing cells to cure diabetes.

No government-backed research has been conducted on stem cells because a 1996 law specifically forbids spending federal dollars for medical research that involves creation of a human embryo for research purposes, or conducting research in which a human embryo has been destroyed.

However, privately funded researchers not covered by the ban last year grew colonies of stem cells from tissue taken from human fetuses and embryos.

Last month, NIH Director Harold Varmus announced that the agency had decided these laboratory-grown cells were not covered by the federal ban because they are not human embryos capable of creating a new person. Varmus based his announcement on a memo from HHS general counsel Harriet Rabb.

In their letter, the House members said federal funding of such research "would violate both the letter and the spirit" of the law.
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