News - Technology
US court won't stop embryonic stem cell research
Posted: Jan 7, 2013 8:30 AM by Lauren Molenburg
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court will not stop the U.S. government's funding of embryonic stem cell research, despite some researchers' complaints that the work relies on destroyed human embryos.
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from two scientists who have been challenging the funding for the work.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Washington area earlier this year threw out their lawsuit challenging federal funding for the research, which is used in pursuit of cures to deadly diseases. Opponents claimed the National Institutes of Health was violating the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo.
Researchers hope one day to use stem cells in ways that cure spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and other ailments.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
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