Kansas Bioscience Initiative

The Kansas Senate voiced approval Friday of a bill to put $500 million behind the state's fledgling bioscience industry, but the debate over stem-cell research continues.

The measure would divert the funds over the next 15 years into bioscience research and development and establish an 11-member bioscience authority to work with state universities, recruit top scholars and build facilities. Supporters say the effort would create thousands of new jobs.

But much of the cutting-edge work in bioscience involves stem-cell research, and the measure that has gained approval so far stipulates that research funded through the initiative could not include abortions or the use of cells or tissues derived from abortions.

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