Some anti-abortion groups in particular call stem cell research morally unacceptable, because they come from embryos that have not been able to reach full term. Until now the research has largely been restricted because federal law prohibits using taxpayers' money for research using human embryos. But scientists working last year with scarce private funding, notably from Geron Inc., isolated embryonic stem cells from aborted fetuses and unused embryos from infertility treatments, and successfully multiplied them in laboratories, creating a supply for research purposes. The NIH, the main funder of U.S. medical research, says these lab-grown stem cells do not constitute embryos. Therefore the federal agency can legally fund experiments using the cells, and will do so within months.
Stem cells are the basic or primordial cells from which all of a human's tissues and organs develop.
By themselves, the cells can't grow into a person. In addition, NIH involvement will ensure the science is done with the public scrutiny not possible when private companies control the purse strings, he added. Abortion opponents immediately decried the decision. The congressman didn't say whether he would challenge the NIH's plans. Varmus says he does not expect Congress to stop his funding plans.