As lawmakers wrangle over the knotty ethics of stem cell cloning, Gov. Mitt Romney is exploring an alternative research method more aligned with his stance against "therapeutic cloning."

William B. Hurlbut, a Stanford University researcher, will brief Romney and lawmakers tomorrow on "altered nuclear transfer," a method of creating stem cells without creating or destroying an embryo.

Meanwhile, lawmakers led by Senate President Robert E. Travaglini are pushing to allow stem cell research using newly created embryos, research some scientists maintain is the best shot at curing life- threatening diseases.