Scientists eager for stem cell policy change

By Jeffrey Young

Although President-elect Obama's pledge to change federal policy on stem cell research is not likely to lead to new cures by the end of his first year — or even first term — the scientific community is eager to get moving. Embryonic stem cell research is one area in which the change that Obama has promised on the campaign trail will provoke an immediate effect. Once he has acted to ease the restriction on federal funding, researchers across the United States will be free to request funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to collaborate with colleagues conducting experiments with private or state-government money and those working abroad. "Just with the stroke of a pen, the new president could open up new avenues of research," said Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.), the lead Democratic sponsor of legislation that would broaden funding for embryonic stem cell research. Obama has vowed to lift restrictions put in place by President Bush and to enact legislation the current president twice vetoed. "He would really be signaling that we really are moving in a new direction," DeGette said. http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/scientists-eager-for-stem-cell-policy-change-2008-12-24.html