President Barack Obama reversed former president George W. Bush’s strict regulation on stem cell research on March 9, 2009, and made it possible for scientists to study the effect of stem cells.

Stem cells offer a huge array of treatments to incurable diseases such as immunodeficiencies and anemic disorders, even cancer or diabetes, according to studies held by the Whitehead Institute. However, during former president George W. Bush’s term in office, stem-cell research was restrained, “force[ing] … a false choice between sound science and moral values”, says Obama as he finally dropped the restraints.

Obama thinks that it is important that “we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology” so that we can move forward in our knowledge, our medicine, and our technology, saving lives and improving what we’ve already got.

Scientists, doctors, and patients of incurable diseases rejoiced at the news. Stem cells taken from days-old human embryos or umbilical cords after birth have the potential to form any of the body’s 200 cell types, such as nerve cells or brain cells, to repair or even replace damaged tissue or organs. What this can offer is treatment to people who are paralyzed and need cells in their spinal chord to repair the damage…people with brain tumors to re-grow brain tissue after the tumor is removed. There might even be a day when patients that have organ damage can re-grow an entire organ, saving lives and preventing thousands of dollars of medical bills

Sadly, adult stem cells that are in living tissue, have a more limited ability to become different cells later on, therefore the stem cells must be harvested early.

Ten million dollars is the amount of money that Obama has set aside to begin the research, and in an already straining economy, the dollars will be missed. After Obama proposed a $75 billion dollar stimulus plan, the additional money used for stem cell research will put further strain on tax dollars that can be scraped together.

However, medical sciences that can save just as many lives as dollars that are spent researching it cannot be sacrificed for moral or for finance reasons. Millions of Americans have been waiting years, even decades for some, for a cure for the disease that threatens to take their lives, or maybe a family member’s life. With the use of stem cells, after they have been properly researched, the benefits greatly outweigh the costs. Obama’s new stem cell policy will open the doors for many people to have a cure…something that this country so desperately needs.