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Bloomberg.com - Top World News 07/20 17:07 Sixty Senators Sign Letter Asking Bush to Back Stem-Cell Funds By Brian Reid Washington, July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Sixty senators, including 11 Republicans, asked President George W. Bush to back federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells. The letter comes as Bush considers whether to let the National Institutes of Health grant money to researchers who wish to use the cells, which have the potential to become a broad range of human tissues. Researchers are now barred from using federal funds for such research. Allowing federal grants has been fought by abortion opponents who contend that gathering the cells requires scientists to take a human life, since the cells generally come from embryos left over from in vitro fertilization. The senators' letter emphasized the medical use of the cells in the treatment of disorders from diabetes to spinal-cord injuries to Parkinson's disease and mentioned an NIH report this week that suggested embryonic cells may have the greater medical potential than those from other sources. ``It would be tragic to waste this promising scientific opportunity to potentially help million for people in need,'' the senators wrote. ``We ought to realize (the embryos') promise of life.'' Several anti-abortion Republicans, including Utah's Orrin Hatch and South Carolina's Strom Thurmond, signed the letter. The letter, however, wasn't signed by Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican and the only physician in the Senate. Frist on Wednesday said that he supports embryonic stem-cell research, though only under select conditions. Bush said yesterday that he'll decide ``in due course,'' and Vice President Dick Cheney told the Public Broadcasting Service's ``NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'' that Bush would act ``between now and September.'' SOURCE: Bloomberg.com - Top World News http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20World%20News&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_topworld&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=ad_right1_windex&bt=ad_position1_windex&middle=ad_frame2_windex&s=AO1idexYaU2l4dHkg * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn