A year and a half after President Obama loosened restrictions on government funding of human-embryonic-stem-cell research, a federal judge on Monday, Aug. 23, declared all such studies temporarily off-limits for taxpayer dollars, on the grounds that they violate a 1996 law. The decision could be a devastating step backward for a promising new science that has the potential to generate new treatments and possibly even cures for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's — and the reaction from scientists was swift and blistering.
"The court decision threatens to impede progress in regenerative medicine in our country," says Dr. Elaine Fuchs, a professor at Rockefeller University and president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. "It must be challenged as quickly as possible."
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...013042,00.html