After it was reported this week that President Barack Obama planned to lift the ban on stem cell research Monday, speculation about the President’s exact proposal began. White House officials today revealed that the President will leave the creation of a new stem cell policy to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Rather than revise the controversial policy himself, Obama will allow the NIH to draw up alternative rules over a period of four months, officials say. The decision will be outlined at a White House ceremony on Monday to which stem cell researchers and advocates for the process have been invited; the drawing up of new guidelines for funding embryotic stem cell research is only one aspect of a broader agenda aiming to “restore scientific integrity in governmental decision making,”.

Melody Barnes, domestic policy council director in the Obama administration, said, “the president believes that it’s particularly important to sign this memorandum so that we can put science and technology back at the heart of achieving a broad range of national goals.”, following through on staunch proclamations during then-Senator Obama’s campaign.

The Bush administration was accused frequently of combining personal ideology with policy making decisions, most notably the soon to be rescinded conscience rule. The legislation was rushed through mere hours before Barack Obama was sworn in and heavily reflects former President Bush’s religious beliefs, which critics feel influenced many policies surrounding, amongst other things, climate change, energy, and birth control.

The law in question, known as the ‘Dickey Amendment’, forbids the use of federal funds for stem cell research, limiting the breakthrough practice to other, independently financed environments. The announcement that the NIH will formulate the new policy has been well received by researchers, so much so that it is being hailed the “stem cell ‘emancipation proclamation’,” by one Dr. Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technology in Massachusetts.

“The removal of this barrier that has stood in our way for eight years will open important new areas of research, and help in moving the field forward more rapidly,” - Dr. Douglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute

Stem cells are unique in their ‘pluripotent’ state, from which they can become any of the 220 cells in the body, making them a key part of curing serious genetic illnesses. The discovery of a new method of engineering skin cells for the purpose was released earlier this week, also. Scientists say that the possibilities afforded research by the use of stem cells are endless, and that in spite of the lengthy process associated with federal funding it is still a great help in conjunction with other financial sources.

The move is provoking opposition from anti-abortion lobbyists and certain government officials, and it will be the duty of the NIH to outline terms which take into consideration all perspectives.

 Print This   Email This