NIH approves 13 more embryonic stem cell lines for federal funding, more to follow

The National Institutes of Health today approved 13 more human embryonic stem cell lines for federally funded research and is reviewing 96 other lines. Note this from the NY Times article.

Dr. Daley said that private financing had been drying up and that he was eager to start research on the now-approved cell lines with the help of his federal grant money.

Now why would private financing for embryonic stem cell research be drying up?

Oh yeah, that's right. Everyone interested in stem cell research who hasn't been living in a cellar for the past couple of years knows that the creation of iPS cells has kind of blown a gaping hole in the whole "we need to kill more human embryos for research" baloney.

Here's a quote from NIH director Francis Collins in the ABC News story that makes me thinks less of him.

"The scientific community breathed a huge sigh of relief and said, 'Yay, now we can continue with the science,'" said Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the NIH. "What we are talking about today is just the beginning of what is going to be an interesting series of approvals."

'Cause science has just up and stopped for the last 8+ years because there were minor restrictions on which embryonic stem cell lines could get funding for the U.S. federal government? It's like some of them really have this ideology that they shouldn't be told what they can or can't do by anyone (except maybe other scientists).