Governor Dave Heineman has signed Nebraska’s Legislative Bill 606 which was passed with 48 for and 1 vote against by the states senators. The new law comes into force with immediate effect.

The bill prohibits use of State funds, facilities or resources for conducting research that involves destruction of human embryos or cloning embryos for any other purpose. However, the new law will provide grants for stem cell research to various institutions and researchers in Nebraska who do not use human embryos. The grants are going to be funded from the state's lawsuit settlement funds.

Fresh stem cells are highly valued by researchers as they can be changed to any kind of cell found in the human body. This is done by cloning, the process of creating an embryo with its nucleus replaced with genetic material of an ordinary cell. 

University of Nebraska policy prohibits researchers from using embryonic stem cells as well as cloning. Though President Bush had approved it almost seven years ago, the new law implies that university scientists will no longer be destroying additional embryos.

Legislative Bill 606 also prohibits either side from future legislation on cloning or research of human embryonic stem cell, unless one of the following three conditions was satisfied:

1. Any private research is undertaken which destroys human embryos, 

    creates a cloned embryo anywhere in Nebraska,

2. New ethical considerations were created through scientific advances, 

3. If prohibitions in Legislative Bill 606 were violated.