STAND. COM. REP. NO.2721

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2457

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2457 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOUSE EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to make an appropriation to the University of Hawaii, for the Department of Anatomy and Molecular Biology in the John A. Burns School of Medicine to conduct research on mouse embryos in order to develop novel techniques for deriving mouse embryonic stem cells.

Your Committee finds that a United States patent was recently issued to the University of Hawaii for its cloning discovery using somatic cells. The patent gives the University of Hawaii a brief window of opportunity (in research terms) to capitalize on potential biomedical applications for its discovery. The financial return to the State of Hawaii from this one patent could support present and future research programs at the University of Hawaii for years to come. If the State fails to support mouse embryonic stem cell research at the Institute for Biogenesis, which has reached a critical juncture with the issuance of the patent, it will have squandered an opportunity to capitalize on this discovery.

Your committee has amended this measure by making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2457, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2457, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair