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NEW YORK - Two new mouse experiments may show how to obtain human embryonic stem cells without ethical hurdles, a step that could allow federal funding for such research, scientists reported Sunday.
Currently, scientists must sacrifice human embryos to harvest such cells, which can form any tissue type and are seen as valuable for studying and treating illnesses like diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
Objections to the embryo destruction have led to a ban on federal funding for such work, which scientists say hampers research.
The new methods, detailed Sunday in the online edition of the journal Nature, seek to obtain the cells without destroying embryos.
The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which advocates federal funding of stem cell research, cautioned that despite the goal of avoiding ethical quandaries, the new approaches "will not sit well with many who oppose embryonic stem cell research."
An official with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the two reported techniques still raise ethical objections, although a spokesman for a group of Roman Catholic bioethicists called one of them a step in the right direction.
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