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PETBioNewsNewsNew rules allow federal funding of US stem cell lines

BioNews

New rules allow federal funding of US stem cell lines

Published 10 July 2009 posted in News and appears in BioNews 516

Author

Ben Jones

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published new rules that will govern state funded embryonic stem (ES) cell research now that the seven years of restriction under the Bush administration have come to an end. The new rules restrict research to stem cells sourced from surplus embryos donated by IVF patients and, consequently, forbid research on any embryo that was created specifically for the purposes of research (either through voluntary donation of human eggs or by employing...

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published new rules that will govern state funded embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research now that the seven years of restriction under the Bush administration have come to an end. The new rules restrict research to stem cells sourced from surplus embryos donated by IVF patients and, consequently, forbid research on any embryo that was created specifically for the purposes of research (either through voluntary donation of human eggs or by employing animal eggs, as legalised in the UK under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act last year). Additionally it is required that documentation showing full and informed consent of the donor be provided in order for an embryo to be used.


The principle concern of US researchers has been that the rules would prevent access to many of the 700-plus privately funded ES cell lines created during the years of the Bush administration. It was thought that it might even exclude access to those 21 lines that were accessible under President Bush's rules (these having been in existence prior to August 2001). The new rules, however, make allowances for many of these earlier lines, permitting their use so long as they were created in line with the spirit of the new requirements.


Though President Obama lifted Bush's restriction in January, he left the formulation of the new rules on what research was ethical to the NIH. To further simplify the process of determining which lines do and do not meet the standard, the NIH will create a registry listing which lines do fall within the rules. While it is yet to be determined which of the old lines will qualify, acting director of the NIH, Richard Kingston, told the Associated Press that 'judgement is necessary' and that 'this is a reasonable compromise to achieve the president's goal of both advancing science while maintaining rigorous ethical standards'.


US federal law still forbids the use of public funds to create or destroy embryos for research purposes and the new rules serve to clarify that only embryos created for reproduction and which meet strict informed consent requirements will be eligible for access to state funding. That the rules do not go further in liberalising the creation of specific embryos means that techniques employed in the UK, such as the creation of embryos using SCNT, somatic cell nuclear transfer (the cloning technique used to create Dolly the Sheep) to include specific genetically linked conditions, will still not receive state funding in the US.

Related Articles

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
4 December 2009 • 2 minutes read

Missouri could ban public funding for stem cell research

by Ben Jones

A Missouri Republican State Representative has proposed legislation to block public spending on embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research in the state. The proposed amendment to the Missouri constitution called for an end to public funding of any research that involved the destruction of embryos. The pro-life Republican representative, Cynthia Davis, also included a ban on funding for abortion and any use of cloning technologies...

Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
CC BY 4.0
Image by K Hardy via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human embryo at the blastocyst stage (about six days after fertilisation) 'hatching' out of the zona pellucida.
News
27 September 2009 • 1 minute read

Human embryonic stem cell lines may now be submitted for US federal funding approval

by Nienke Korsten

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a website through which scientists can request their human Embryonic stem (ES) cell lines to be approved for federally funded research. Eligible lines will appear on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry, also accessible online. Dr Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, has appointed a working group to assist him in deciding which lines will be approved....

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