The new US government has not yet reached a decision on the funding of research that involves embryonic stem cells - early embryo cells capable of developing into any type of body tissue. US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Tommy Thompson, said last week that National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines drawn up in 1999 are now being reviewed.
Current US laws permit private sector, but not public sector, scientists to carry out research on human embryos. In 1999 however, NIH lawyers and scientists argued that federal funds could be used for work on human embryo stem cells, as they were not actual embryos. Thompson says his department is now reviewing the issue and it will be making a decision in spring or early summer. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has sent a letter to President Bush expressing its support for federal funding of embryo stem cell research, arguing that 'it would be tragic to squander this opportunity to pursue work that can potentially help millions of Americans in need'. But anti-abortionists oppose the research, and the US Christian Medical Association has just filed a law suit against the Department of HHS to prevent the use of government money for any research that depends on the destruction of human embryos.
Earlier this year, the UK government approved regulations that will allow scientists to carry out work on embryo stem cells in order to develop new treatments for serious diseases (so-called 'therapeutic cloning'). Other European countries may soon follow suit: the Danish Council of Ethics recently approved such research, reported last week's Lancet.
Sources and References
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Danish council vote 'yes' to research into therapeutic cloning
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US considers future of embryo research
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AAAS urges President Bush to fund stem-cell research
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Suit filed to stop embryonic stem cell research
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