Results from a poll by Harris Interactive/HealthDay most Americans support embryonic stem cell research.

Seventy two percent of adults polled, including Catholics, Christians and Republicans, agree that scientists should be allowed to use embryonic stem cells left over from in vitro fertilization procedures to search for potential treatments or ways to prevent diseases which include Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and diabetes.

"There is now overwhelming public support for using embryonic stem cells in biomedical research," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of the Harris Poll, a service provided by Harris Interactive.

"Even among Catholics and born-again Christians, relatively few people believe that stem cell research should be forbidden because it is unethical or immoral."

The Obama administration appealed a decision made in late August by U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth which ruled that federal funding of embryonic stem cell research violated a 1996 law prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars for research.

The poll accounted for 2,113 adults over 18. Participants responded online from September 28 to September 30.

The number of Americans supporting the embryonic stem cell research has remained steady since the 2005 findings.