Obama policy a lift for stem cell researchers

Stem cell research advocates have waited nearly eight years for the policy change President-elect Barack Obama has signaled he'll make in the early days of his administration: lifting the restrictions imposed by President Bush on federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells.

Those limits, and earlier laws, have left stem cell labs hungering for support since the versatile human stem cells were first derived in 1998.

Such cells, often taken from extra embryos created by in vitro fertilization clinics, can morph into the specialized cells found in skin, nerves and many other tissues. Bush shared the moral objections of some religious groups and political conservatives to research on human embryos. However, the prospect of a powerful new cell replacement technology that could some day cure injury and disease has now shifted many Republicans as well as Democrats toward support for federal funding of the work.

But Obama, even if he changes the policy, may still be powerless to send much more money to stem cell researchers anytime soon because he will be taking office amid a historic global...