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Originally Posted by Canada 02
my understanding from the handful of news articles, is the ban on public funding of hESC has been lifted; however, the ban on creation of new hESC has not been lifted. That means that scientists have the 20 or so hESC lines to work on and study, but we can't create new cell lines
this is a big deal because the existing cell lines were created about 10 years ago using the knowledge and technology of that day; if we could make new cell lines, then maybe the issue of hESC becoming cancerous could be overcome by better techniques
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In fact, the limit to using existing stem cell lines was the "meat" in the Bush administration's executive order--that is now gone:
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Obama overturned an order signed by President Bush in 2001 that barred the National Institutes of Health from funding research on embryonic stem cells beyond using 60 cell lines that existed at that time.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/...nce/index.html
Obama has overturned the rule to the extent that he can. But if my understanding is correct, the executive order has to do with funding, not the legal status of embryos. However, apparently legislation is on the way:
http://blogs.nature.com/reports/theniche/