Stem-cell issue moves up the US agenda

摘要

US senators voted last week, for the second time in nine months, to lift restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem-cell research — even though they expect President George W. Bush to veto the decision again. So why the repeat of last July's political meltdown? In part, senators are positioning themselves for next year's congressional elections and for the one political contest that will bear enormously on future US stem-cell policy: the presidential race of 2008.