the_archfiend | Good news, pt.2 (one of a series! No, really!)

It seems that the polar bear from my last post has taken interest in a tin of sardines somewhere else in the building.

Be that as it may, this is also good news on the US scientific research front:

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that tried to block funding of stem-cell research on human embryos.

A federal appeals court in April lifted a previous injunction on continued funding, and U.S. District Chief Judge Royce Lamberth has now agreed with the Obama administration that the lawsuit brought by two scientists should be dismissed.

The 38-page decision is a victory for supporters of federally funded testing for a range of diseases and illnesses.

(snip)

Some stem-cell scientists said Wednesday's ruling would offer a measure of certainty that such expensive research, often years in development, can continue.

"Much more work needs to be done to determine which kinds of stem cells will lead to future scientific and medical advances," said Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan's Center for Stem Cell Biology. "This ruling also allows the NIH to continue funding research based on scientific merit rather than having courts influence the distribution of funds among scientific disciplines."

I'm quite positive that Leon "Ice Cream" Kass (given a thorough drubbing by Steven Pinker here) is greatly disturbed by this turn of events; I feel nothing but pain for his bruised sensibilities. Maybe he should've gone on record against root beer floats instead.