Testing science

摘要

On december 6th an appeals court in Washington, dc, heard the latest arguments in the case of Sherley v Sebelius, on the question of whether American federal funds can be used for research on human embryonic stem cells. The disburser of those funds, the National Institutes of Health (nih), is the largest source of medical-research money in the world, so the outcome of this case-which could end up in the Supreme Court-may determine the rate of progress in the field and how much of it will happen in the United States. Embryonic stem cells have the potential to replicate any type of bodily tissue. That makes them of particular interest to medical researchers hoping to test possible drugs and, in the longer term, to use stem cells to help repair human tissues.