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As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, scientists are anxiously waiting to see if his policies will affect ongoing scientific research that utilizes embryonic stem cells or fetal tissue.
Both embryonic stem cell research and fetal tissue research have faced either backlash or federal funding restrictions in recent decades.
Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, said that at this point, not enough has been said by Trump to give a clear indication about whether any restrictions could be reintroduced.
"It's all a little bit like using a Ouija board," Charo, co-chair of the National Academy of Medicine Forum on Regenerative Medicine, said about the upcoming administration. However, she suggested looking to Vice President-elect Mike Pence for some clue as to how the administration might view research.
Treatment Using Stem Cells
The field of embryonic stem cell research faced federal funding restrictions under President George Bush that were later removed under President Barack Obama. In 2009, after Obama removed restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research, Pence wrote an op-ed for The...