Governor wants end to curb on stem cells

Governor Deval Patrick will announce this morning that he wants the Department of Public Health to reverse restrictions on stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, according to an administration official with direct knowledge of the governor's intentions.

The research limits, drafted by Governor Mitt Romney's aides and adopted last August by the state Public Health Council, generated widespread criticism from scientists, leading legislators, and even Romney's lieutenant governor, Kerry Healey.

The regulation made a seemingly small wording change in the language of a 2005 stem cell law. But researchers said that the rewording could prohibit them from using certain human embryonic stem cells with the traits of diseases they are interested in studying and also subject researchers to penalties.

The 2005 law, approved by the Legislature after overriding Romney's veto, was intended to remove most obstacles to human embryonic stem cell research.

Patrick will ask the Department of Public Health to make the rules consistent with the Legislature's intent, the administration official said, adding that the governor is mindful of the medical and economic importance of embryonic stem cell research.

Any changes would have to be approved by the Public Health Council, but the members who approved the Romney administration's rules will probably all be replaced next week as part of an overhaul of the panel included in the state's new health insurance law.

The administration is poised, the official said, to unveil further initiatives in coming weeks designed to strengthen the state's position in the burgeoning field of stem cell research. That will include expanded state funding, said the official, who was not at liberty to provide actual dollar amounts. The official declined to be named, saying the governor will make the official announcement today at a life-sciences conference in Cambridge.

The state's incoming public health commissioner, John Auerbach, declined to comment yesterday on the stem cell regulations.

A spokeswoman said Auerbach is deferring comment on state policies until he starts his new post Monday.

The Romney rules were opposed by the heavyweights of Boston's scientific community, including Harvard University and seven of its powerful hospitals and research institutions. Just as they last year vigorously opposed Romney's actions, they have since sought to persuade Patrick to embrace the Legislature's original regulations.

Kevin Casey, Harvard's director of governmental relations, said that in recent conversations with Patrick's top health officials, it became clear that the administration wanted to "correct the overreach" of Romney's rules, "but without undermining the integrity of the statutory intent of the legislators."

"We think this is an important step demonstrating that the governor is going to look at the scientific validity of this and put patients first," Casey said.

Harvard has made stem cell research a priority, launching a $100 million fund-raising effort three years ago to pay for its scientists' work.

Embryonic stem cells have the capacity to become any cell in the body, and scientists predict the research could lead to insights into diseases and, potentially, treatments.

The research has triggered opposition from antiabortion groups, however, because current methods of obtaining stem cells require destruction of embryos, which critics maintain is tantamount to taking a human life.

The objections from Boston research institutions to the Department of Public Health rules revolved around an arcane, but potentially pivotal, choice of regulatory language.

The 2005 law prohibited the creation of fertilized embryos for the sole intent of donating the embryo for research. But the amended rules adopted by the Public Health Council also stated that embryos could not be created for the sole intent of using them in research.

Boston researchers were most concerned that the Romney-backed rules would prevent them from accepting some batches of embyronic stem cells from colleagues in states with less restrictive stem-cell research laws.

For example, in New York, scientists hunting for treatments for a disease can create embryos using sperm and eggs donated by families stricken with the ailment. The resulting stem cells can then be used to understand a disease and to look for treatments.

Neither the original law passed by the Massachusetts Legislature nor Romney's additional rules would allow the creation of such embryos here for research purposes.

But Romney went a step further, forbidding Massachusetts researchers from using such stem cell lines at all.

The Patrick administration official said the governor, in seeking to reverse the Romney rules, wants to ensure that scientists can do meaningful research and that the state remains competitive in the high-stakes field.

"The governor wants to make it known that this administration is extremely supportive of allowing research to take place that has the potential to cure some very, very serious genetic diseases," the administration source said. "We can't afford to fall behind."

A prominent stem cell scientist at Children's Hospital Boston, Dr. Leonard Zon, said that while the regulations have been a source of conversation among scientists across the nation, he was not aware of the rules deterring any scientists from doing research they wanted to pursue.

But with the pace of stem cell research accelerating, Zon said, the regulations, if unchanged, could cast a cloud over collaboration between Massachusetts scientists and colleagues elsewhere.

"The stem cell field is really at its beginning," Zon said. "You really want to maintain as much interaction as possible to help the field move forward."

If researchers believed that they faced criminal prosecution for accepting stem-cell lines from other scientists, "that really is a major impediment for me to do the research."

State Senator Richard T. Moore, chairman of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, last night characterized Patrick's action as "moving in the right direction."

But Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat, said Public Health Department officials should rescind the Romney-era rule only after making an independent determination that it is a scientifically sound decision.

Romney came under fire for imposing his political will on the agency.

Spokesmen for Romney's presidential campaign did not respond last night to e-mail and cellphone messages seeking comment.

Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com.