President Barack Obama plans to lift his predecessor George Bush's restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research today.

The long-promised move will allow a rush of research aimed at better treatment, if not cures, for ailments such as diabetes, Parkinson's and paralysis.

The research has been backed by prominent Americans including President Reagan's widow Nancy, whose husband suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and the late actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralysed in a horse riding accident.

But it is opposed by some religious and conservative groups on moral grounds because days-old human embryos must be destroyed to obtain the stem cells. They are typically taken from fertility-clinic leftovers that would otherwise be thrown away.

President Obama was also making a broad declaration today that science, not political ideology, would guide his administration.

"I would simply say this memorandum is not concerned solely - or even specifically - with stem cell research," said Harold Varmus, chairman of the White House's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology and a Nobel Prize-winning biologist.

He said it would address how the government uses science and who is advising officials across federal agencies.

George Bush limited taxpayer money for stem cell research to a small number of stem cell lines that were created before 9 August 2001.

Scientists say newer lines - groups of cells that can continue to propagate in lab dishes - were better suited to creating treatments, but had to be supported by private donors.

The proposed changes do not fund the creation of new lines, nor specify which existing lines can be used. But they mean that scientists working with newer lines can apply for government money for the research.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said: "I believe it is unethical to use human life, even young embryonic life, to advance science.

"While such research is unfortunately legal, taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for experiments that require the destruction of human life."

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