With the NIH stymied by rules restricting federal support of embryonic stem cell research, the National Academy of Sciences is stepping into the void by creating a committee that will provide informal oversight of research projects. Normally the NIH would provide guidance to researchers on what is ethically acceptable. This new committee will be funded from private sources like the Ellison Medical Foundation. "Our very strong feeling was that some sort of oversight was vastly preferable to the vacuum we have now," said Richard L. Sprott, executive director of the Ellison Medical Foundation.
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