
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 5, 1994                   TAG: 9401050075
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

FETAL-TISSUE STUDY GRANT IS APPROVED

The federal government on Tuesday approved the first grant for fetal-tissue research since President Clinton lifted a 5-year-old ban on studies using cells from aborted fetuses.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke is giving $4.5 million to three institutions to study the effects of implanting fetal tissue into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients.

Dr. Patricia Grady, head of the federal institute, said there may be more grants this year, for Parkinson's and other brain disorders.

Presidents Reagan and Bush banned federal funding for research using fetal tissue from elective abortions. But Clinton lifted the ban in one of his first official acts.

Some privately funded research continued at the University of Colorado and at Yale University throughout the five-year ban, but experts said those studies lacked adequate scientific precision.

Parkinson's is a progressive brain disorder that causes tremors, a shuffling walk, a decreased ability to control speech and facial muscles, and a gradual loss of functional control. Its precise cause is unknown, but it is connected to the death of brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical key to communication within the brain.

by CNB