Some researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill may have to abandon their human embryonic stem cell research projects after a federal district judge blocked a 2009 presidential executive order that expanded such studies, saying it violated a law banning federal money from being used to destroy embryos.
Now UNC officials are trying to determine the meaning of Monday's ruling from Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court for Washington, which concluded that embryonic stem cell studies are research in which human embryos are destroyed.
"It's not good," said Matt Fagan, director of UNC-CH's Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility, which maintains a stock of cells and makes them available to UNC researchers for approved research projects. "We are a state institution, so most of the funding is from the federal government."
Scientists say research with human embryonic cells could lead to cures for Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, paralysis and other ailments. The cells are derived from embryos, mostly ones that develop from eggs that have been fertilized at an in vitro fertilization clinic and then donated for research purposes with the consent of the donors, according to the National Institutes of Health.
About 60 percent of UNC's research has begun since the 2009 executive order, and most are biological studies looking at how the stem cells can become any cell in thebody, Fagan said.
Most of the researchers are doing work that entails successive experiments conducted over months. If they have to walk away from current projects, they would have to void previous findings and start over because their cells will die if not fed every day, Fagan said.
At least one graduate student may be forced to abandon a thesis that depends on this research, said Bob Lowman, UNC-CH's associate vice chancellor of research.
On Tuesday, Lowman sent a letter to the nine UNC researchers working with human embryonic stem cells, asking them to notify him of their funding sources. Lowman said he is working to find other funding sources for these researchers.
Lowman said that he did not think the judge's order took effect immediately and that the federal money awarded to researchers would last a year after it was awarded.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Justice Department appealed the decision, but it's unknown how long the appeal will take.
The National Institutes of Health told researchers this week that if they've already received money this year, they may continue their stem cell work but that no new money will be granted, according to The Associated Press.
That means 22 projects due to get yearly checks in September, an additional $54 million, "will be stopped in their tracks," NIH Director Francis Collins said. Proposals for new research won't be considered, AP reported.
At least one UNC researcher's federal grant is up for renewal at the end of this month, and this researcher will probably be among the first in the country to lose his funding, Lowman said.
