July 27, 2011
AAAS comment on Judge Royce Lambeth's ruling on embryonic stem cell research
From: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Contact: Earl Lane, 202-326-6431, elane@aaas.org
Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and executive publisher of the journal Science, had the following comment on the decision today by Judge Royce Lambeth to dismiss a lawsuit challenging federal funding of embryonic stem cell research:
"AAAS is very pleased that Judge Lamberth has ruled in support of the Obama Administration's human embryonic stem cell research policy. AAAS has long favored federal funding for the broadest array of stem cell research -- including embryonic stem cell research -- so long as it adheres to strict ethical guidelines such as the ones set forth in the current policy.
"The scientific consensus is that embryonic stem cell research is an extremely promising approach to developing more effective diagnostics and treatments for devastating conditions such as diabetes, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's disease. Judge Lamberth's injunction last year threatened to cause real harm to researchers in this field and discourage the next generation of stem cell scientists. By excluding one of the most promising areas of stem cell research, the injunction could have slowed dramatically the development of potential new diagnostics and therapeutics.
"AAAS strongly believes that it is only though federal support of multiple avenues of stem cell research that we can better understand the potential value and limitations of each approach. We urge Congress to pass the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act and codify the Obama policy into law."
# # #
The nonprofit AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society. For more information, go to www.aaas.org.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment