COLUMBUS: Some Ohio lawmakers believed a proposed ban on human cloning was a simple plan to prevent a practice that was unethical and unnecessary.

Then an Ohio State University medical expert told them that banning cloned embryos, and the stem cells that come from them, would snuff out promising future research on diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Cloned embryos also could not be brought into the state under the proposal, potentially leaving sick Ohioans at a disadvantage should a future medical breakthrough occur elsewhere.

The bill, which appeared ready to clear a Senate committee last week after introduction last year, has been slowed by the complex debate among lawmakers trying to balance medical ethics and Ohio's economic development. Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland opposes the bill, and a narrower proposal two years ago did not pass the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Sixteen other states have outlawed or limited human cloning with laws similar to the one proposed by Republican Sen. Steve Buehrer of Delta.

Limiting research on cloned embryos concerns some lawmakers because Ohio is investing heavily in attracting top-notch biomedical research, which leaders believe is a key to the Rust Belt state's economic revival. The state has slated $100 million over five years for the field.

''We don't want to put money forward and at the same time scare away any research that might take place in the state of Ohio,'' said Sen. David Goodman, a Republican from Columbus who is chairman of the committee hearing the bill.

There is consensus among lawmakers and scientists that human cloning to create offspring is an abuse of science. But Buehrer says he can't support cloning for research because it would violate what he views as the crux of his bill -- protecting human life from scientific experiment.

''That's human life either way,'' Buehrer said. ''There ought to be some ethical boundaries to what we allow to happen in our communities, whether that happens behind the facade of science or not.''

Six states have outlawed cloning for reproductive purposes but allowed cloning for research, while six have banned both types. Others have banned the use of public money for one or both.

There is no national ban on human cloning or cloning embryos for research. However, President Bush ordered in 2001 that federal money can be used only on research on lines of embryonic stem cells that existed then.

Various scientists and doctors have spoken out against Ohio's bill, which includes prison up to two years and a minimum $250,000 fine for offenders. The Ohio Council of Medical School Deans said in a letter to Goodman that the proposal would limit Ohio's ability to attract leading researchers in the still emerging field.

''There will be a very strong economic effect in terms of the chilling effect on the state,'' said Douglas Kniss, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and biomedical engineering at Ohio State.

Research on stem cells in Ohio mainly occurs on adult cells at places including Ohio State and Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, while some embryonic research on approved stem-cell lines is taking place at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Cloned embryos are one source of stem cells, which can be programmed to develop into many different tissues. Stem cells also come from amniotic fluid and other sources, which aren't controversial because they don't involve the destruction of human embryos, which some say ends human life.

Scientists use stem cells to study cell development and apply that knowledge to diseases. The research also could lead to the growing of organs that can be used to replace damaged ones.

So far, scientists do not have the capability to make organs from embryonic stem cells, which would have less chance of being rejected by patients' bodies because the tissue would have their same genetic code.

Scientists lately have created the equivalent of embryonic stem cells from ordinary skin cells.

David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council that promotes conservative issues, testified in favor of the bill and said the new stem cell discovery shows scientists don't need use embryos.

But Kniss and other scientists say research on cloned embryonic stem cells and the new stem cells from skin cells is too undeveloped to decide which may prove more fruitful.

One of the country's top experts on stem cells said it's shortsighted public policy for lawmakers to decide what scientists can research.

''I find it unwise to suggest that the Legislature should dictate appropriate scientific discovery,'' said Stan Gerson, director of the Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, whose founding partners include Case Western and the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic.