WASHINGTON (January 7, 2013)—The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to stop the government's funding of embryonic stem cell research, despite some researchers' complaints that the work relies on destroyed human embryos.

The high court Monday refused to hear an appeal from two scientists who have been challenging the funding for the work.

Earlier this year the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out their lawsuit challenging federal funding for the research, which is used in pursuit of cures to deadly diseases.

Opponents claimed the National Institutes of Health was violating the 1996 Dickey-Wicker law that prohibits taxpayer financing for work that harms an embryo.

Researchers hope one day to use stem cells in ways that cure spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and other ailments.