2010-09-10

On September 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifted a temporary injunction barring the federal government from funding research involving human embryonic stem cell research (hESC).

The court granted a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stay an injunction issued August 23 which blocked the federal funding of hESC research. The Justice Department argued the judge’s ruling will cause irreparable harm to researchers, taxpayers and scientific progress. As part of its ruling, the court indicated that the Obama Administration could resume funding the research pending a full appeal of the case. This means that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) can, at least temporarily, resume both its intramural hESC research and its normal extramural application and grant processes.

The following statement was released by the NIH today:

"We are pleased with the Court's interim ruling, which will allow promising stem cell research to continue while we present further arguments to the Court in the weeks to come. With the temporary stay in place, NIH has resumed intramural research and will continue its consideration of grants that were frozen by the preliminary injunction on August 23. The suspension of all grants, contracts, and applications that involve the use of human embryonic stem cells has been temporarily lifted. Human embryonic stem cell research holds the potential for generating profound new insights into disease, cell-based therapeutics, and novel methods of screening for new drugs."

ASH will continue to monitor and provide updates on all developments on this issue.

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