Neurons (red) and glial cells (green) derived from human ESCs. Credit: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel/Rapport Syndication
US states with bans in place (gold) or pending (red) on research using embryoys or cell products derived from embryos. Source: http://www.hinxtongroup.org/usa_map.html

A ban on using federal funds for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research was lifted by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on April 28, allowing the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to go forward with funding. The 2-1 ruling reversed a preliminary injunction put in place by US court judge for the District of Columbia Royce Lamberth last August, prohibiting government financing for hESC work. The plaintiffs, two researchers working on adult stem cells, contended that research on hESCs depends on the destruction of human embryos, forbidden by the so-called Dickey-Wicker amendment. In the recent ruling, the appellate court Judge Douglas Ginsburg stated that the wording of the amendment is ambiguous, but that the interpretation by the NIH—that research on hESCs does not include the process of deriving the cells—is reasonable. Both sides are claiming victory, however. The plaintiffs' attorney, Samuel Casey, said they were one vote away from a “grand slam,” and Hank Greely, director for the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford Law School agrees that is a fair assessment. “Their chances of winning would have been quite high if they'd gotten one more vote.” But Greely feels that the fate of this lawsuit is sealed. The plaintiffs could appeal the decision, according to Casey, but are more likely to file a supplemental brief asking the lower court, which has yet to rule, for a permanent injunction on government funding for stem cell research. The past three administrations have allowed federal funding of hESC research to proceed, and since 1997, Congress has declined to change the Dickey-Wicker amendment, which as a rider in an appropriation bill, is voted on annually. Even so, efforts continue in at least two states, Minnesota and Oklahoma to prohibit hESC research.