US appeals debate on embryonic stem cell research
WASHINGTON. September 28. KAZINFORM A US appeals court heard debate Monday over whether to temporarily suspend a trial judge's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. However, the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seemed divided over the issue; Kazinform refers to Cjina Daily.
A federal judge last month blocked such funding, saying it violated US law because it involved the destruction of human embryos and put other researchers working with adult stem cells at a competitive disadvantage for federal grants. The injunction was a blow to the Obama administration, which approved federal funds for expanded embryonic stem cell research on March 9, 2009.
The Obama administration appealed and faced tough questions from the panel about what real harms would occur and how the government separates research from the destruction of the embryos.
Judge Thomas Griffith, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, was the most aggressive questioner of the government. He suggested that even if federally funded embryonic research is halted now, researchers could resume their experiments later if the government eventually wins in court.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, another Bush appointee, also asked skeptical questions of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Beth Brinkmann who was arguing to keep the funding in place. Kavanaugh called the government's position "odd" and "internally inconsistent."
Brinkmann said the injunction against the funding was a " setback for the field" and that biological material would be destroyed" at a cost of tens of millions of dollars; Kazinform cites China Daily.
See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.