NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The future of human embryonic stem cell research in Louisiana, where the Legislature has proven hostile to such work, may depend in large part on the interpretation of a state law passed last year.
That law OKs research on human embryonic stem cell lines created before August 2001, when then-President Bush restricted federal funding for such research.
But the law doesn’t address lines created after that date. President Obama’s recent lifting of the Bush restrictions raises questions about whether researchers in Louisiana could work on newer stem cell lines.
The state attorney general’s office hasn’t yet issued an official opinion on the matter and one leading researcher in Baton Rouge says the research is unlikely to be done until the issue is settled.
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