WASHINGTON, May 25: The US House of Representatives has voted to increase federal funding for embryonic stem cell research but President George Bush has vowed to veto the bill if it passes the Senate. The vote is in opposition to Mr Bush’s views on this issue and the bill aims to overturn Mr Bush’s ban of 2001, in which he declared funding would only be available for research using existing stem cells.

Although the House passed the bill, it did not gain enough votes to overcome a presidential veto.

The bill, co-sponsored by Reps. Michael N. Castle, Delaware Republican, and Diana DeGette, Colorado Democrat, calls for nearly 400,000 human embryos currently in cold storage to be used for stem cell research.