Barely a week since his momentous victory, US president-elect Barack Obama is bringing joy to long-suffering stem-cell researchers.
For years, US progress has been crippled by restrictions introduced in August 2001 by president George W Bush, preventing federally funded researchers from working on all but a few sources of embryonic stem cells 鈥� the cells from embryos with huge medical potential for repairing organs and tissues.
Now, those restrictions will be among the first of Bush鈥檚 executive orders to be swept away, probably within the next 100 days. The news emerged on Sunday from an featuring John Podesta, the head of Obama鈥檚 鈥溾��, which is managing the switch to power.
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The executive orders that restrict the stem-cell lines could be withdrawn unilaterally by Obama, he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we鈥檒l see the president do that,鈥� said Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. In 2003 Podesta founded the 鈥� a think-tank embodying many of Obama鈥檚 stated ideals for transforming the US.
The aim is to quickly dismantle the legacies of the Bush era that Obama sees as holding back progress, particularly those motivated by ideology or religion.
Bush鈥檚 resistance to stem-cell research, for example, is a concession to evangelical conservatives who oppose all research on embryos. 鈥淚 think across the board, on stem-cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration even today moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably not in the interest of the country,鈥� said Podesta.
鈥楽ad chapter鈥�
The news was greeted with delight by researchers who have long criticised the Bush restrictions. 鈥淗allelujah 鈥� at last,鈥� said Robert Lanza, chief scientist at Advanced Cell Technology, a stem-cell company in Worcester, Massachusetts. 鈥淭his represents the end of a sad chapter in American scientific history.鈥�
鈥淯nder an Obama administration, money will hopefully flow to all promising avenues of research based on scientific merit, and not skewed to fit a conservative agenda,鈥� said Lanza. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been operating for the past decade with one hand tied behind our back.鈥�
杏吧原创s were also jubilant over two 鈥減ro-research鈥� victories in votes for amendments.
Voters in Michigan passed by 53% to 47% 鈥淧roposal 2鈥�, allowing researchers in the state to derive new embryonic stem-cell lines from embryos left over after fertility treatment.
鈥淭his outcome means that critical medical research can proceed in Michigan without political or ideological interference,鈥� said George Daley of the Children鈥檚 Hospital in Boston, and a past president of the .
And, in Colorado, voters rejected by 73% to 27% 鈥淎mendment 48鈥�, which proposed conferring personhood to newly fertilised embryos. 鈥淚f the vote in Colorado had passed, researchers deriving embryonic stem cells would have been charged with murder and possibly locked away for life,鈥� said Lanza.
鈥淭he stem cell research community has been working hard to overturn the Bush policy,鈥� says George Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children鈥檚 Hospital Boston.
鈥淲ith an administration more supportive of science in general, and stem cell research in particular, I predict that the field will expand dramatically.鈥�
Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter issued a statement on Monday stressing that no definite decision on repealing the Bush stem cell restrictions had yet been taken, although she confirmed that Obama would honour his campaign promise to review all executive orders.
