Brazil's Supreme Court was set to decide if scientists in Latin America's largest country should be allowed to conduct embryonic stem cell research, which some scientists believe could lead to cures for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The court's 11 justices were scheduled to rule yesterday on a 2005 petition by then-attorney general Claudio Fontelles, who argued that a new law allowing embryonic stem cell research was unconstitutional because it violates the right to life.
The law opened the way for research with embryos resulting from in-vitro fertilization that are frozen for at least three years.
"Brazil has the potential to be a significant leader in this field," said Bernard Siegel, the executive director of the Florida-based Genetic Policy Institute. "And if the Supreme Court decides to allow this kind of research, then Brazil will become the Latin American leader in this field."
He said that Brazilian scientists have done "pathfinding" work with adult stem cells for use in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and Type 1 diabetes and they could make similar breakthroughs if given the green light to use embryonic stem cells.
Roman Catholic Church officials have urged the court to ban such research because the process involves destroying embryos, which it and other groups say ends human life.
"Our position is not against science," Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha, president of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops, said last week. "It is in favor of life."
But Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defended the law on Tuesday.
"I favor approval," Silva told reporters. "I don't think the world can renounce scientific knowledge that can save mankind from many things."
While embryonic stem cell research is legal, scientists have put most projects on the back burner pending the ruling.
"We want the chance of conducting the kind of research being done in developed countries like Great Britain, Sweden, Japan and Israel," said Mayana Katz, a University of Sao Paulo geneticist.
A January survey by the Public Opinion Research Institute, or Ibope, found that 95 percent of those interviewed favored allowing embryonic stem cell research.
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