Stem cell initiative cleared for petition gathering [Missouri]

The debate over stem cell research soon could be coming to your local grocery store parking lots, shopping centers and city sidewalks.

The secretary of state's office said Tuesday that it has given the go-ahead for supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment protecting stem cell research and treatments to begin gathering petition signatures from voters.

They have until May 9 to collect about 145,000 valid signatures, an amount that can vary depending on the areas they target. The proposal is intended for the November 2006 ballot.

The petition drive is a reaction to unsuccessful legislative efforts by some anti-abortion activists to ban a kind of early stem cell research known informally as therapeutic cloning and technically as somatic cell nuclear transfer.

In that procedure, scientists replace the nucleus of an unfertilized egg with the nucleus of a cell from the patient's body, such as a skin or nerve cell. The altered egg then is stimulated to grow, and the resulting stem cells are harvested.

Stem cells can potentially develop into any type of human tissue. Researchers hope those cells can...