US President Barack Obama's 2009 executive order to allow the federal funding of research using new human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines may become law.
Yesterday (March 9), on the one-year anniversary of Obama's announcement, members of Congress Diana DeGette of Colorado and Mike Castle of Delaware reintroduced the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act to "ensure a lasting ethical framework" for such research. DeGette and Castle were the lead sponsors of the bill when it was introduced during the tenure of former President George W. Bush, who vetoed it twice. The legislation would codify Obama's executive order, which overturned the limitations implemented by Bush, and made it possible for scientists to use federal funds to study hESCs derived after August 9, 2001. So far, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have approved a total of 43 lines, more than double the...
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Image: Wikimedia commons, Nissim Benvenisty |
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