As the debate over whether to approve stem cell research continues in the White House, President Bush would be well advised to learn from history - specifically, from the mistakes of his own father.

When, in 2004, New Jersey became the second state, after California, to adopt legislation approving stem cell research, Dr. Black was appointed the first director of the state-financed Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.

The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51% of support from voters as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve embryonic stem cell research.

The Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey, formed following the passage of legislation in 2004 making New Jersey the second state in the nation to approve stem cell research, named him as its first director.

He said that Mr. Sampedro's real antiauthoritarianism had an effect beyond the euthanasia debate, from the recent passage of a bill approving stem cell research to the new Spanish government's quiet signals that the legalization of euthanasia may soon be explored.