The WiCell Research Institute reached an agreement with a California company Tuesday to distribute human embryonic stem-cell lines generated without destroying donor embryos, contingent on whether the federal government provides the necessary funding.

If made eligible for federal funding, the stem-cell lines would be distributed through the national stem-cell bank operated by WiCell, a subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

"It's an agreement to ensure that as many stem-cell lines as possible are made available to scientists who have interest in them," WARF spokesperson Andy Cohn said.

Cohn added it's now "up to President Bush and Congress" to recognize stem-cell lines derived from the new technique and to provide funding before the lines could be distributed to U.S. scientists.

Discovered by researchers from the California-based biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology, the technique derives stem cells from embryos in earlier stages of development than those currently utilized to generate stem cells.

The current method — which derives stem cells from later-stage embryos known as blastocysts — destroys the embryos' potential for further development.

By avoiding similar embryo destruction, the new technique — featured in the science journal Nature — could potentially dodge some of the controversy surrounding stem-cell research.

However, the technique has come under scrutiny after the company admitted the embryos used in the experiment later died.

Despite the criticism, the new technique has garnered the support of Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis.

Last week, Green announced a plan to invest $25 million over four years to conduct research on methods that generate stem-cell lines without destroying human embryos.

In a press release issued after the announced agreement, Green said the plan "shows we can continue exploring the great promise of stem-cell research without the ethical dilemma that comes with destroying embryos."

Even though Gov. Jim Doyle's camp previously questioned ACT's method of generating stem-cell lines, his camp now supports the announced agreement for its potential in aiding stem-cell research.

"Gov. Doyle believes the federal government should be providing the financial resources for unlocking all the potential of stem-cell research," Doyle's Communications Director Matt Canter said a week after saying the technique has been "debunked by a number of credible sources."

"Researchers in Wisconsin have to have access to all the resources they need to find cures to diseases once thought to be incurable," Canter added.

In October of 2005, the National Institutes of Health awarded WiCell $16 million to house and maintain the nation's first stem-cell bank. The institute now holds half of the federally approved stem-cell lines produced before 2001.

ACT, which operates facilities in Alameda, Calif., and Worcester, Mass., first announced successfully generating human embryonic stem cells without harming embryos on Aug. 23.