Obama's stem-cell setback: What's next?

Six theories on what happens now that a federal judge has blocked Obama's attempt to expand federal funding for stem-cell research

An employee of WiCell Research Institute, Inc. prepares stem cells for culture.
(Image credit: Getty)

Federal judge Royce Lamberth surprised everyone by striking down President Obama's 2009 executive order expanding U.S. government financing for research on embryonic stem cells. Such funding, he ruled, violates the 1995 Dickey-Wicker Amendment against using federal money to destroy embryos. Obama vowed to appeal the ruling, but it immediately threw into doubt millions of dollars in federal funds and dozens of ongoing research projects. So what happens now? Here are six theories:

1. The ruling won't survive the appeal

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