Arkansas

AFTER SCIENTISTS BASED at the University of Wisconsin revealed that they had successfully harvested embryonic stem cells from human embryos, several states rapidly responded with either support or bans on related research. Arkansas is one of the states to ban such research. In 2003, Arkansas, along with North and South Dakota, completely banned all forms of cloning, even if related to stem cell research and therapies. Types of cloning include reproductive cloning as well as somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is also called therapeutic cloning.

Arkansas law prohibits research on an aborted live fetus but allows research on a fetus that was aborted and born dead. Cloned embryos are outlawed, as is the sale of a fetus or fetal material. Opponents of providing a monetary reward for the production of a source of embryonic stem cells warn that such a practice could lead to the forcing of a woman to produce and abort a fetus against her will or to unfairly entice a woman from a low socioeconomic status to do so to advance her position. Prohibition of monetary gain from fetuses or fetal materials protects both women and fetuses from exploitation.

Despite its restrictive laws regarding stem cell procurement, Arkansas nevertheless has a long track record of stem cell therapies. In fact, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has performed thousands of blood stem cell transplants for multiple myeloma patients; the number of transplants that they have performed surpasses that of any other facility on the planet. The Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, as well as UAMS, is in Little Rock.

At the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Cell Differentiation Program works to understand how cancerous and healthy cells develop and differentiate. This knowledge can then be applied to stem cell biology in an effort to guide the differentiation of these stem cells. A current major usage of stem cells in cancer therapies is the delivery of healthy blood stem cells to reconstitute [Page 17]a patient's immune system and blood cell population after chemotherapy, particularly for a myeloma. Stem cell therapy for multiple myeloma patients involves a high dose of chemotherapy to kill diseased blood cells, followed by a transfusion of healthy blood and blood stem cells.

Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Hucka—bee is in favor of research on currently existing stem cell lines, which most experts agree are too contaminated to continue to work on; however, he firmly opposes cloning. In early 2008 Governor Huckabee was a U.S. presidential candidate and hoped his conservative stance on stem cell research would aid his campaign.