U.S. appeals court agrees to allow stem cell funding

[spanone]

Government-funded research on embryonic stem cells can continue, a U.S. appeals court said Tuesday, while lawyers appeal a lower court decision that found such research illegal.

Tuesday’s action extends a Sept. 9 decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. court of appeals for the District of Columbia that temporarily lifted a U.S. District Court judge’s ban on the controversial research. The same appellate panel issued an order Tuesday afternoon saying the research can continue until the case is resolved.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs applauded the move, saying President Obama had made “stem cell research and the pursuit of groundbreaking treatments and cures a top priority when he took office. We’re heartened that the court will allow National Institutes of Health and their grantees to continue moving forward” while the legal case proceeds.

In late August, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington surprised the administration and many scientists by ruling that a 14-year old Congressional spending restriction prohibited federal support for all research on embryonic stem cells.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/sns-stem-cell-funding,0,6301263,print.story

[flamingdem]

1. Excellent nt