Fox News Channel’s Jesse Watters takes a closer look at the biomedical big bucks behind Missouri’s cloning amendment. An excerpt:

People in Missouri go to the polls November 7th to vote on Amendment 2, which would allow controversial embryonic stem cell research and would, some critics say, opens the door to human cloning. A billionaire couple, Jim and Virginia Stowers, has pumped $29 million “The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures” – 97% of its financial support—in an effort to get the amendment passed. The Stowers’ millions are funding television, radio, print and billboard ads all over the state. But the couple, who is paying the most In an effort to pass Amendment 2, may stand to gain the most if it does.

Jim Stowers is the founder & CEO of American Century Investments, a privately held asset management firm with a $100 billion portfolio. The firm invests significantly in the healthcare sector, including biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare equipment & supply companies. If Amendment 2 passes, Jim Stowers’ company would be positioned perfectly to take advantage of the enormous sums of venture capital that would flow into Missouri. In fact, Stowers is reportedly eager to turn Kansas City, Missourie into the Silicon Valley of biomedical research.

Jim and Virginia run the Stowers Institute, a non-profit biomedical research organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, with a $2 billion endowment. It has been reported that the Institute has made a $300 million expansion project contingent on Amendment 2 passing. If Amendment 2 fails, the project could well be move to another state and jeopardize the Stowers’ long term goals.

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