[North Carolina] Panel passes embryonic stem cell research

RALEIGH (AP) - The largest committee in the state House backed legislation Thursday setting rules for how research can be performed on human embryonic stem cells, even though the bill eliminated funding to encourage research.

The bill's primary sponsor is Rep. Earl Jones, D-Guilford.

The guidelines, approved by a 45-35 vote, would permit research on stem cells left over from in-vitro fertilization that would otherwise be discarded. But a $10 million appropriation was removed from the bill that would have helped the state Health and Wellness Trust Fund distribute grants to nonprofit groups conducting stem cell research.

The money was eliminated because it could take about a year for the trust fund to set up guidelines, Jones said. He said embryonic stem cells could offer a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injuries and other conditions.

"People are dying from these diseases," said Rep. Larry Womble, D-Forsyth, who supports the bill. "If we can address that to save a whole lot of lives that we cannot save now ... this is...