Laura Bush addresses the crowd Saturday in front of the Library of Congress in Washington at the opening of the first National Book Festival. The report by the academy, an independent panel of experts that advises the president, says much work remains before treatments can be developed. However, its recommendation that such research be pursued aggressively is likely to anger those who urged Bush to ban stem-cell research and bolster critics who say the plan the president announced last month did not go far enough. Research supporters say the cells show promise in treating a host of diseases.
Opponents say the research is tantamount to murder because the process destroys the embryos.
He opposes any federal funding for research on stem cells from embryos that have yet to be destroyed. But there is controversy over the number of stem-cell lines that researchers have to work on. Bush put the number at 64. The administration says that is adequate, though Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson acknowledges that fewer than half of those are available for research. Supporters of research say it holds the promise of curing ailments such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and juvenile diabetes.