Washington - A Virginia laboratory has broken new ground in a bitter controversy over US federal funding for research using stem cells from human embryos by producing such embryos in vitro specifically for research purposes, Patrick Smyth reports.
To date, research on stem cells, seen as crucial to potential breakthroughs in conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, has used cells taken from embryos which were surplus to requirement in fertility clinics and would otherwise have been discarded. President Bush is currently considering whether to rescind a ban on funding of research on discarded embryo stem cells.
