A group of scientists and academics have written a letter encouraging the current lame duck Congress to pass a bill authorizing the use of federal money to support stem cell research before the GOP takes control of the House in January:
In a letter sent Friday to the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the deans of American medical schools, chief executives of U.S. hospitals and heads of organizations with names like the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Society of Human Genetics said that federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research “is essential” if scientists are to succeed in turning the cells into usable treatments.
The law would reiterate that no federal money can be used to destroy embryos or create cell lines. One of the pluses of passage is that it would ensure that the controversial research be conducted according to strict ethical rules.
The bill has been passed twice before by bipartisan Congresses, though in both cases it was vetoed by then-President George W. Bush.
