STORRS, Conn. (AP) – As lawmakers consider plans to make the state a hotbed for stem cell research, the University of Connecticut has announced it is poised to become one of the first colleges in the country to launch a program for making human embryonic stem cells.

Xiangzhong “Jerry” Yang, a cloning expert who directs UConn’s Center for Regenerative Biology, said Thursday that his laboratory had become the first to create embryonic stem cells from cloned cattle embryos. The work was done in a partnership with the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Yang said the lab is ready to move from studying stem cells in cows to creating human embryonic cells for research, but he said China is asking him to do the work in Beijing.

Although he does not plan to leave UConn, Yang said he or other scientists at the Center for Regenerative Biology would consider moving their work to China if the state does not pass a bill supporting stem cell research.

Researchers at Yale University Medical School are also concerned about having enough money to study stem cells. School officials say they are ready to create a new stem cell institute, but are worried about competition from other states such as New Jersey and California, which plan to spend billions of dollars on research.

Scientists worldwide are eager to dive into the field because certain stem cells can morph into all cell types found in the body. Some scientists believe that stem cells can be used to repair damaged tissue, replace entire organs and cure diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

UConn’s results with cloned cattle embryos are published in the current issue of the journal Biology of Reproduction.

Yang said developing a therapeutic cloning program to make human embryonic stem cells will need the backing of Connecticut lawmakers. The U.S. government has prohibited federal funding on human embryonic cells created after the fall of 2001.

Embryonic stem cells so far have been created only from cloned embryos in mice and in humans.

In his research, Yang plans to implant DNA from a skin cell into an egg that has had its own DNA removed. The egg is electrically stimulated and begins cell division. Within five days, the new embryo creates an interior ball of embryonic stem cells.

Yang envisions therapeutic testing beginning within the next 10 years.

State Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Cheshire, co-chairman of the legislature’s Public Health Committee, said now is a critical time in the stem cell movement for recruiting scientists. He supports a bill that would provide $10 million in bonding for stem cell research in the coming year and ban cloning designed to produce a child.

Opponents of the plan, including officials of the Roman Catholic Church, argue that there are not enough safeguards that prevent scientists from creating a human being from a cloned embryo. They also believe the embryos are alive and should not be killed in order to promote research.

Dr. Robert Alpern, new dean of the Yale School of Medicine, said Thursday that Yale wants to create a new stem cell center that would bring six or seven top-flight scientists together.

To attract and keep top researchers, he said, the center would require lab space and ongoing funding for stem cell research that currently is ineligible for federal grants.

Fifteen other states are considering bills similar to the measure before the Connecticut legislature, said Paul Pescatello, president of Connecticut United for Research Excellence, which supports the legislation.

“People are being wooed, and they are waiting to see what happens with this legislation and how much money comes to bear on their labs,” Pescatello said.