Government Appeals Stem Cell Injunction

The government formally filed its notice of appeal of the stem cell injunction on August 27.  Today it moved to stay the injunction, filing a memorandum in support of an emergency motion.  The arguments focus primarily on the significant harm caused by the injunction to stem cell researchers and those who might benefit from it.  They argue that the injunction effectively gives the plaintiffs favorable treatment in their adult stem cell work compared to the stoppage faced by their embryonic stem cell research colleagues.  Aside from the issue of harms (which will likely be the biggest factor in the eventual decision), this does address the dubious standing that plaintiffs were granted – that funding embryonic stem cell research did them economic harm.  Since the NIH has provided almost three times as much funding for adult stem cell research compared to embryonic stem cell research in fiscal year 2010, I think the standing issue has legs for appeal should the stay not be granted.

The last third of the document is a declaration from NIH Director Collins outlining the value of embryonic stem cell research and the harms the injunction may pose.  It gets into specifics of some projects that will not be receiving funding should the injunction stand.  It’s at least as interesting as the support memo.

President Announces New Export Control Scheme; University Research May Still Get Stymied

How a nation handles the export of its technology reflects a collection of sometimes competing interests.  This was keenly felt following the end of the Cold War and the rise of private satellite companies, as the nation’s commercial interests ran headlong into an outdated national security mindset.  Even now there are two different lists of controlled technologies handled by two different departments with two different motivations for technology exports.  Several different agencies are involved and they can’t easily exchange information with each other.

After a year-long government-wide review, the Administration took the first steps towards streamlining this unwieldy process.  I don’t think the statement really clarifies things for those who aren’t intimately involved with these things.  There are at least three major areas of action described in the announcement:

Control Lists – The Munitions List and the Commerce Control List will be revised to work from objective, descriptive criteria, with as bright a line as possible between what belongs on one list versus the other.

Licensing Policies – These policies will be revised to reflect tiers in the two lists.  The idea would be to require licenses only for the top tier stuff, and other controls for the lower tiers.

Coordination – Besides moving the export control agencies to the same IT system, there will also be a export enforcement coordination center to better share information and catch violators.

Given that it took a year to develop the plan, I expect the full rollout of the plan will take at least as long.