GINA Passes Senate, Likely to Become Law 

Last week, the Senate passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) by a vote of 95-0, clearing a major hurdle on the eve of National DNA Day. FASEB President Robert Palazzo, Ph.D. said in a statement celebrating the passage of the bill that “this long-overdue legislation will provide the necessary protections against misuse of genetic information, allowing us to fully realize the potential of personalized medicine.”

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Congress Halts Proposal to Increase the SBIR Set-Aside

Recently, the House of Representatives’ Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Chairman David Wu (D-OR) introduced H.R. 5789, the Science and Technology Innovation Act of 2008, to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program. When the bill arrived on the House floor, it contained provisions that would have increased the set-aside for the SBIR program from 2.5% to 3.0% of the research budget of each agency it affected. In a time of flat funding for research programs government-wide, the passage of this legislation would have had the effect of cutting funding for all other research activities by $650 million.

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Farm Bill Continues to Experience Delays

Despite a number of statements from Senate and House conferees that they were nearing a deal, the Farm Bill continued to experience delays, requiring another two weeks of extension. Chairs of the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Collin Peterson (D-MN), said this week that pending some financial calculations from the Congressional Budget Office, they hope to bring the bill to the floor in the next week.

The Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 5852) was introduced in the House on April 17th, cosponsored by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Thomas Allen (D-ME), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Bruce Braley (D-IA), John Campbell (R-CA), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA, James Langevin (D-RI), and Dave Reichert (R-WA). The legislation would end all invasive research on great apes (which the bill defines as including chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons) in addition to mandating federally-supported, permanent retirement for all great apes currently used in federally-funded research.

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INSIDE (The Beltway) SCOOP – Gretchen Opper

It’s looking increasingly likely that there won’t be an agreement on the budget resolution this year. Although Democratic budget leaders have been negotiating a final budget resolution, the spending panels ultimately may move forward instead with deeming resolutions, which would serve as a blueprint for the twelve annual appropriations bills.

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FASEB Past President Leo Furcht Publishes New Book on Stem Cell Research

FASEB Past President Leo Furcht, M.D., Allan-Pardee professor and Chairman of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, has recently published a book for general audiences on stem cell research. In Stem Cell Dilemma: Beacons of Hope or Harbingers of Doom? Furcht and his co-author, William Hoffman, summarize recent developments in stem cell research and explore the challenges and opportunities that they present.

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Congressional Schedule

The House and Senate are in session.

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