Obama to reverse limits on stem cell
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| Fri, 03-06-2009 - 9:33pm |
By BEN FELLER AND LAURAN NEERGAARD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS

In this Oct. 22, 2008 file photo, Theresa Gratsch, a Ph.D. research specialist, views nerve cells derived from human embryonic stem cells under a microscope at the University of Michigan Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., Reversing an eight-year-old limit on potentially life-saving science, President Barack Obama is expected to lift restrictions Monday on taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
WASHINGTON -- Reversing an eight-year-old limit on potentially life-saving science, President Barack Obama plans to lift restrictions Monday on taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells.
The long-promised move will allow a rush of research aimed at one day better treating, if not curing, ailments from diabetes to paralysis - research that crosses partisan lines, backed by such notables as Nancy Reagan and the late Christopher Reeve. But it stirs intense controversy over whether government crosses a moral line with such research.
Obama will hold an event at the White House to announce the move, a senior administration official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy had not yet been publicly announced.
Nor does Obama's change fund creation of new lines. But it means that scientists who until now have had to rely on private donations to work with these newer stem cell lines can apply for government money for the research, just like they do for studies of gene therapy or other treatment approaches.
The aim of the policy is to restore "scientific integrity" to the process, the administration official said.
"America's biomedical research enterprise experienced steady decline over the past eight years, with shrinking budgets and policies that elevated ideology over science. This slowed the pace of discovery and the search for cures," said Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan's Center for Stem Cell Biology.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151ap_obama_stem_cells.html





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Also known as the Group of Ostrich People (GOP) and its accompanying mentality. (Those people with their head in the sand, thereby denying reality.)
hee hee!
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