Bush sanctions federal funding for limited stem cell research
US President George W Bush announced on 9 August that US federal funds will be allocated to a limited amount of stem cell research in the USA, and set up a team of scientists, lawyers, theologians and ethicists to oversee the development of the research. The move has been criticised by some US scientists, who claim that the decision does not go far enough. 'The attractiveness of Europe, for US scientists, as a place to specialise in this type of research remains unchanged by this decision,' said a Commission spokesman. President Bush's decision limited funding to research in existing stem cell lines (from embryos that had already been destroyed), and did not include use of the estimated 100,000 frozen embryos in fertility clinics across the USA. Nor is there any permission to clone human embryos for research or 'therapeutic' purposes. There are around 60 existing stem cell lines, on which the federally-funded research will focus. President Bush said that research on these could proceed, as this is 'where the decision on life and death had already been made.' In addition to stem cell research on embryos, Bush also endorsed increased funding for research on stem cells obtained from adults, umbilical cords placentas and animals, with federal funding for this reaching $250 million (around 280 million euro) this year. European Commission funding for stem cell research is currently only allocated for stem cell research on similar material, not from embryos. The decision from President Bush proved controversial, as he had claimed during his election campaign last year that he was opposed to any research that involved destroying living human embryos, an opinion he reiterated in May this year in a letter to the Culture of life foundation.