The National Institutes of Health issued a statement, Friday, reacting to a U.S. Appeals Court ruling on stem cell research on Thursday. The decision placed a hold on an injunction placed last month against using government funding for research in which human embryos are destroyed.
“We are pleased with the Court’s interim ruling, which will allow promising stem cell research to continue while we present further arguments to the Court in the weeks to come. With the temporary stay in place, NIH has resumed intramural research and will continue its consideration of grants that were frozen by the preliminary injunction on August 23. The suspension of all grants, contracts, and applications that involve the use of human embryonic stem cells has been temporarily lifted. Human embryonic stem cell research holds the potential for generating profound new insights into disease, cell-based therapeutics, and novel methods of screening for new drugs,” said the NIH.