Court Puts Stay on Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ban

(Sept. 9) -- A federal appeals court decided today to temporarily lift the ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research while it considers an emergency motion filed by the Justice Department.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled last month that government funding of embryonic stem cell research violated the Dickey-Wicker amendment, which prohibits federal funding of any research that destroys a human embryo. The decision threw a major wrench into ongoing research projects nationwide and stopped others in their tracks. When Lamberth refused to stay his ruling earlier this week, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit to step in.

Today's ruling will not necessarily apply for the duration of what could become a lengthy appeal process, however. That decision will be made sometime after Sept. 20, when written arguments are due, according to The Wall Street Journal.

And while supporters of embryonic stem cell research cheered the decision, some say it is not enough to get much of the research back up and running again.

"No way this would be a scientific reprieve," Patrick Clemins of the American Association for the Advancement of Science told CNBC.