The state filed an amicus brief Monday in the federal court case seeking to stop federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, Gov. Jim Doyle announced in a statement. The brief will seek to dissuade the court from hearing the case.
""We support the federal government's efforts to continue funding ground-breaking scientific research using embryonic stem cells under the clear, ethically sound guidelines issued by the National Institutes of Health last year,"" Doyle said in the statement.
This official filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Court comes less than a week after the state made its initial request.
The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research and the Genetics Policy Institute, an organization of university research groups fighting for stem-cell research, including UW-Madison, threw its support behind the state's action.
""It is in the best interest of patients and families that we pursue all the promising avenues of stem cell research, and studying embryonic stem cells is essential to scientific discovery and future breakthroughs,"" Doyle said in the statement.
