(CNSNews.com) - A new study has found that stem cells are in plentiful supply in amniotic fluid, but at a time the charged issue of experimentation involving human embryos is back on the political agenda in the U.S., a group that favors the controversial research insisted Monday the discovery does not make embryonic stem cells (ESC) obsolete.

Two Republican lawmakers - both with medical backgrounds - announced Monday they would introduce alternative legislation on Tuesday, authorizing federal funding for stem cell research that does not involve creating or destroying human embryos.

Two days later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to reintroduce legislation to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

Currently, federal funding for embryonic research is restricted to a small number of ESC colonies that existed in 2001, when President Bush announced the policy. ESC research proponents want to expand that dramatically, but the president last July vetoed previous legislation seeking to do so.

In a study reported at the weekend, American researchers said they were able to obtain stem cells from amniotic fluid - the substance surrounding babies in the womb - without harming either the baby or mother.

They found the cells to be "pluripotent" - that is, able to differentiate into various types of cells, including brain and bone.

This is the capability scientists believe ESCs will have, thus offering the possibility of future treatments for injuries and degenerative diseases. But the use of embryonic cells is controversial, because the early-stage embryos are destroyed in the process.

Dr. Anthony Atala of the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University of School of Medicine, who led the study, said in a statement that while ESCs were considered the most adaptable, "our hope is that these cells will provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for engineered organs as well."

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) and Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) said Monday they will introduce "an ethical alternative" to the Democrat bill.

"As a scientist who studied advanced embryology earning both a Master's and a Doctorate in Human Physiology, I know and confirmed with leading scientists that it is unnecessary to harm or kill embryos to obtain cell lines for research," Bartlett said in a statement.

"With the accelerated federal funding under our bill, there could be rapid progress expanding the number of ethical pluripotent stem cell lines for research," he added.

Gingrey said the bill would allow lawmakers "to side-step the moral questions surrounding embryonic stem cell research."

"In America, we do things the right way," he said. "We don't take organs from death row prisoners because they are 'going to die anyway.' Neither should we steal the life of a fertilization clinic embryo just because there's a chance it won't be used to impregnate a woman."

'Lift federal restrictions now'

The Genetics Policy Institute (GPI), which supports ESC research, said while the amniotic fluid discovery was a "positive development," the research "does not eliminate the need for embryonic stem cell research."

"This discovery is a welcome development that opens up a new line of research," said Eve Herold, GPI's director of public policy research.

"However, much more work needs to be done before anyone can determine the cells' future clinical value," Herold said.

He said new cell discoveries in the past, although seemingly promising at first, turned out to be a disappointment. "Science is a slow process. Experiments need to be repeated and independently verified before they become established as facts."

He said the new line of research should be pursued, but "this early report does not suggest that we should abandon the science that has been proven over and over again to be so promising."

GPI Executive Director Bernard Siegel went further, declaring that "there is only one 'card carrying' pluripotent human embryonic stem cell."

"Patients demanding cures must reject any attempted spin on this story claiming the work with fetal cells is an actual alternative to current embryonic stem cell research," Siegel added, calling again for restrictions on federal funding for ESC research to be lifted now.

Opponents of ESC note that dozens of conditions are being treated with non-embryonic stem cells already around the world, whereas ESCs have yet to be used successfully on humans.

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