LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Xinhua) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday applauded President Barack Obama for lifting funding ban on stem cell research.

    "President Obama's executive order is a huge win for the millions of people who suffer from spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis and many other illnesses," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

    "Californians were the first in the nation to support and fund embryonic stem cell research and we are big believers in the power of this revolutionary science to not only improve but to save lives."

    Because of the federal ban, Californians world-renown research facilities have had to have separate areas for the federally-funded and the non-federally funded programs, causing duplicative efforts, according to the governor.

    Earlier on Monday, Obama abolished contentious Bush-era restraints on stem-cell research, declaring that "our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values."

    "I applaud President Obama for removing this barrier which allows California to maximize critical research funding so we can continue to lead the world in stem cell research," Schwarzenegger said.

    In 2004, Schwarzenegger championed and California voters passed Proposition 71, devoting an unprecedented 3 billion U.S. dollars to stem cell research and creating the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

    To date, CIRM has awarded 635 million dollars in research and facility construction grants that is leveraging over 1 billion dollars in private funds, making it the largest source of funding for embryonic and pluripotent stem cell research in the world.

    In response to then President Bush's veto of legislation to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in 2006, the governor directed the state to issue a loan of up to 150 million dollars to strengthen California's voter-approved stem cell research efforts that offer the potential for new treatments for debilitating and deadly diseases.

Obama lifts limit on embryonic stem cell research, scientists hail

U.S. President Barack Obama signs an Executive Order on stem cells research in the East Room of the White House in Washington, the United States of America, March 9, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan) Photo Gallery>>>

    WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday issued an executive order that allows federal money to fund expanded embryonic stem cell research, which scientists say is "a great advance for science in general and America in particular."

    Before signing the order, Obama said he was ending what he believed was "a false choice between sound science and moral values." The president vowed that the U.S. government "will vigorously support scientists who pursue this research," and "will aim for America to lead the world in the discoveries it one day may yield."  Full story