San Diego's researchers say a boost in embryonic stem cell funding will advance the search for cures at many local institutions.KPBS Radio's Tom Fudge has more.
President Obama yesterday rescinded an eight-year-old restriction on funding for embryonic stem cell research. And that was good news to San Diego's research institutions, which received hundreds of millions of dollars from the National Institutes of Health. Critics of the research say destroying embryos for their stem cells is immoral, even if it may lead to cures for deadly diseases. Larry Goldstein is the director of UCSD's stem cell program. He says funding will still be limited by rules about how embryos are aquired.
Goldstein: I can well imagine that of the hundreds of cell lines that are currently available, there may be some where there are ethical questions about how they were generated. And therefore they may not be eligeble, and that's fine.
The law still prohibits federal funds from being used to harvest new stem cell lines. Tom Fudge, KPBS news.
