White House to contest stem cell research ruling

The US government will appeal against a court ruling that undercut federally funded embryonic stem cell research, the Obama administration declared.

Still, dozens of experiments aimed at fighting spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease and other ailments probably will stop in the meantime.

The White House and scientists said Monday’s court ruling was broader than first thought because it would prohibit even the more restricted stem cell research allowed for the past decade under President George W. Bush’s rules.

The Justice Department said an appeal is expected this week of the federal judge’s preliminary injunction that disrupted an entire field of science.

That initial ruling will not stop all the work that scientists call critical to finding new therapies for devastating diseases.

The National Institutes of Health told anxious researchers late yesterday that if they already have received money this year – $131m (€103m) has been doled out – they can keep doing their stem cell experiments.