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Obama plans to sweep Bush stem-cell restrictions aside Updated 11:43 12 November 2008 by Andy Coghlan For similar stories, visit the US national issues and Stem Cells Topic Guides Barely a week since his momentous victory, US president-elect Barack Obama is bringing joy to long-suffering stem-cell researchers. For years, US progress has been crippled by restrictions introduced in August 2001 by president George W Bush, preventing federally funded researchers from working on all but a few sources of embryonic stem cells - the cells from embryos with huge medical potential for repairing organs and tissues. Now, those restrictions will be among the first of Bush's executive orders to be swept away, probably within the next 100 days. The news emerged on Sunday from an interview on Fox News featuring John Podesta, the head of Obama's "transition team", which is managing the switch to power. The executive orders that restrict the stem-cell lines could be withdrawn unilaterally by Obama, he said. "There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," said Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. In 2003 Podesta founded the Center for American Progress - a think-tank embodying many of Obama's stated ideals for transforming the US. The aim is to quickly dismantle the legacies of the Bush era that Obama sees as holding back progress, particularly those motivated by ideology or religion. Bush's resistance to stem-cell research, for example, is a concession to evangelical conservatives who oppose all research on embryos. "I think across the board, on stem-cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration even today moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably not in the interest of the country," said Podesta. 'Sad chapter' The news was greeted with delight by researchers who have long criticised the Bush restrictions. "Hallelujah - at last," said Robert Lanza, chief scientist at Advanced Cell Technology, a stem-cell company in Worcester, Massachusetts. "This represents the end of a sad chapter in American scientific history." "Under an Obama administration, money will hopefully flow to all promising avenues of research based on scientific merit, and not skewed to fit a conservative agenda," said Lanza. "We've been operating for the past decade with one hand tied behind our back." Scientists were also jubilant over two "pro-research" victories in votes for amendments. Voters in Michigan passed by 53% to 47% "Proposal 2", allowing researchers in the state to derive new embryonic stem-cell lines from embryos left over after fertility treatment. "This outcome means that critical medical research can proceed in Michigan without political or ideological interference," said George Daley of the Children's Hospital in Boston, and a past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. And, in Colorado, voters rejected by 73% to 27% "Amendment 48", which proposed conferring personhood to newly fertilised embryos. "If the vote in Colorado had passed, researchers deriving embryonic stem cells would have been charged with murder and possibly locked away for life," said Lanza. "The stem cell research community has been working hard to overturn the Bush policy," says George Daley, associate director of the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston. "With an administration more supportive of science in general, and stem cell research in particular, I predict that the field will expand dramatically." Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter issued a statement on Monday stressing that no definite decision on repealing the Bush stem cell restrictions had yet been taken, although she confirmed that Obama would honour his campaign promise to review all executive orders. If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to. Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn