This advance has pushed the foundation smack into the political issue of stem-cell research.
President Bush, citing ethical issues, has allowed only limited federal funding for stem-cell research.
They have funneled three times as much as the federal government into embryonic stem-cell research.
Many believe the emphasis should be placed on adult stem-cell research, which poses fewer ethical questions.
"It doesn't have to be, you know, embryo stem-cell research or fetal or cloning, " Lott said.
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Those objections, critics say, could cover anything from abortions to fertility treatments to stem-cell research.
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Langevin estimated that nearly half of all Americans could benefit from embryonic stem- cell research.
Both said embryonic stem-cell research is morally objectionable and unlikely to produce promised treatments or cures.
Already as an undergraduate, Ivan did stem-cell research that could lead to new cancer treatments.
From fast trains to stem-cell research, Californians voted for good things while neglecting to pay for them.
The research could put pressure on big drug companies to wade into the ethically complicated field of stem-cell research.
In some areas, such as genes, software and stem-cell research, the question of what qualifies for protection is controversial.
Scientists are keen to use stem-cell research on cloned embryos as a way of curing several previously untreatable diseases.
Several state referendums were also passed, including California's initiative to fund stem-cell research.
Thompson also says that he is against embryonic stem-cell research, and he has a 100 percent rating from National Right to Life.
Few are as familiar with the details of stem-cell research as Melton.
It was voters, for example, who by means of ballot initiatives insisted that the state spend more money on schools and stem-cell research.
Some lawmakers have talked of passing new legislation to nullify Judge Lamberth's ruling and clarify that stem-cell research derived from embryos is allowed.
Federal research funds were prohibited for embryonic stem-cell research until August 2001, when Bush approved spending for research using only already-existing cell lines.
He will not like a proposal to allow more federally funded stem-cell research, but Ms Pelosi thinks she can assemble a veto-proof two-thirds majority for it.
The amendment would grant full legal protection to embryos and foetuses and could outlaw some forms of birth control, stem-cell research and possibly in vitro fertilisation.
And, having approved tens of billions of dollars-worth of bonds to pay for everything from stem-cell research to road mending, it is racking up ever more debt.
Stem-cell research dates to 1981 and started out with mouse embryos, which researchers used to study the effects of individual genes and to try treating disease in mice.
In mice, for instance, GFP has enabled adult stem-cell research.
The basic techniques of human embryo creation that Dr. Edwards pioneered form the technical foundation of in vitro fertilization, human cloning techniques, genetic screening of human embryos and embryonic-stem-cell research.
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Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, a strong supporter of federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, says he will not take the issue up in the Senate until Bush makes his decision.
Either Clinton or Obama could make a strong appeal to Catholics on peace-and-justice issues, yet both are out of sync with Catholic teaching on issues such as abortion, stem-cell research and gay rights.
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The other interesting aspect of the stem-cell link is that it was inspired by work outside the mainstream of the huge cancer-research industry: stem-cell research is now a huge field in its own right.
The Obama administration is appealing the judge's order, and said this week it would require the government to stop funding all embryonic stem-cell research, including that allowed under more-restrictive rules set by the Bush administration.
"Stem-cell research is in a very early state and while it may hold great promise we should not overstate the state of science, or politicise these issues, " he wrote in a recent edition of Nature magazine.
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