AS THE full implications of the shock court ruling that has frozen US government support for work on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) sink in, researchers want to know if Congress can provide a fix.
If the ruling stands, all projects relying on federal funding will be shut down within 12 months, as their grants come up for renewal. The government will appeal, but Congress could amend the law on which the ruling depends. Called the , it blocks federal funding for research that harms a human embryo.
Congress could stipulate that Dickey-Wicker should not preclude research on hESCs, but merely prevent federal funds being used to create new cell lines. Such wording could be added to the National Institutes of Health鈥檚 next spending bill, but that is unlikely to pass in the brief window between Congress returning from recess on 13 September and a break in October to allow its members to campaign for mid-term elections in November.
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Another option would be to , to turn into law an executive order issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, which sought to expand federal funding for hESC research.
