National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins said in a press call this afternoon to the court order yesterday blocking funded by federal research on human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) will not affect the payment of subsidies that have already gone through the door this year. That's good news for the scores of researchers who fear that their experiences would would stop. But the injunction forcing NIH to freeze its reviews of new hESC grants, and has jeopardized payments for more than 20 ongoing grants pending their annual payment in September.
Collins called the decision taken yesterday by the District Court of the United States in Washington, DC, "development very unexpected" that NIH staff "stunned." It affects both lines approved under Obama's policy on stem cells in 09, and those previously approved by President George W. Bush, he said.
the consequences are dramatic "and far reaching," he said. Fifty grants awaiting peer review have been set aside; another dozen grants totaling $ 15 million to $ 20 million that had passed the first stage of the Peer Review and were directed to the NIH advisory councils will also reprints. Another 22 grants totaling $ 54 million in funding, which were for the annual renewal in September are also waiting. NIH also canceled a planned meeting of an advisory board today which investigated whether to add more cell lines to those approved for funding from the NIH.
Another 0 or so grants totaling $ 131 million that had already been allocated this year are safe for now, but could be at risk when they come for their annual turnover in the coming months, Collins said .
Collins said the idea that hESC ongoing projects could quickly find private sources of funding "is not an idea that I think we can put forward without a healthy dose of skepticism."
Department of Justice and other parts of the Obama administration are still working on their response to the decision, Collins said. "There are many people who thought they were going to be on vacation to work really hard," he said
Science Insider was left with an unanswered question when Press :. did the two doctors who won the injunction to challenge the interpretation of the Obama administration that it does not apply to grants that have been funded this year?
for Learn more about the prohibition of stem cells, see our full coverage.
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