President Barack Obama has signed an Executive Order lifting the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research. The Order is an important step in advancing the cause of science in America and protecting free and open inquiry
Stem cell research remains uncertain but scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to improve our understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions.
Obama pointed out that, while research is both painstaking and costly research, it continues to generate progress in America. “When government fails to make these investments, opportunities are missed. Promising avenues go unexplored. Some of our best scientists leave for other countries that will sponsor their work. And those countries may surge ahead of ours in the advances that transform our lives,” he said.
In addition, the President signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a strategy for restoring scientific integrity to government decision making.
“There is no finish line in the work of science,” the President offered: “The race is always with us – the urgent work of giving substance to hope and answering those many bedside prayers, of seeking a day when words like "terminal" and "incurable" are finally retired from our vocabulary.”
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