Barack Obama speaking of the promise of stem cell research on 9 March 2009, when he lifted the ban on funding. The guidelines for stem cell research
Credit: AFP
WASHINGTON: The U.S. government unveiled final rules for embryonic stem cell research, laying out ground rules for "ethically responsible, scientifically worthy" studies eligible for federal funds.
The new rules, which go into effect today, follow President Barack Obama's March 9 executive order lifting a ban on embryonic stem cell research, an order that went into effect under his predecessor, George W. Bush.
They allow funding for research using human embryonic stem cells derived from embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) for reproductive purposes and no longer needed, in a departure from the Bush administration's policy.
Final guidelines less restrictive than draft
The U.S. National Institutes of Health's (NIH) guidelines are slightly less restrictive than those outlined in a draft document released in April in that they allow the use of existing stem cell lines, in addition to new ones derived from IVF procedures.
The rules, the agency said, lay out which research is eligible for federal funding and help "ensure that NIH-funded research in this area is ethically responsible, scientifically worthy and conducted in accordance with applicable law."
Bush barred federal funding from supporting work on new lines of stem cells derived from human embryos in 2001, allowing research only on a small number of embryonic stem cell lines that existed at the time.
Using human embryos for scientific research, which often involves their destruction, crossed a moral barrier and urged scientists to consider alternatives, the former president argued.
Hope of medical breakthroughs
In reversing the ban, the Obama administration argued that the promise of medical breakthroughs through stem cell research could not go unexplored.
Stem cells – primitive cells from early-stage embryos – are capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body. Scientists say such research is key to designing treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes. Many researchers have been awaiting the NIH guidelines to design research projects that would be eligible for federal funding.
The NIH received some 49,000 comments from patient advocacy groups, scientists, medical groups and other interested parties before issuing the guidelines.
American scientists had lobbied hard to relax Bush's restrictions, complaining that they were falling behind their peers in other countries by not being able to conduct research on fresh stem cells derived from discarded in vitro fertilisation embryos.
Bad journalism
Bush instituted no new ban on stem cell research. Bush created for the first time federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, restricting it to stem cell lines already in use. Obama merely expanded the funding opportunities further than that. Private money has been funding embryonic stem cell research all this time without restriction.
The story lacks any mention that expanding funding of embryonic stem cell research seems unnecessary given the advancements of adult and umbilical cord stem cell research, the disappearance of barriers on using these cells for replicate any other cell in the body? Any mention of how embryonic stem cells have proven to be more cancerous than other types of cells, therefore less promising for developing treatments? Even scientists in other countries are abandoning embryonic stem cell research in absence of any funding restrictions because of the moral issues and the feasibility problems. Here in the US we're ahead in the most promising fields because of the focus on other types of cells. There are no human trials for treatments based on embryonic cells, but treatments based on cord or adult cells are progressing through human trials already.Christopher Reeve
Yes. Yesssssss. Finally! My plan is working! Yessssssssssssss!!!! BRING ME ALL YOUR YOUNG!!!!
Num num num munch munch munch num num num.
Final NIH Guidelines for SCR
As a Parkinson's disease prisoner of 13 years I am disappointed that while the NIH saw fit to approve funding of stem cells created for reproduction, it slammed the door on stem cells created for research.
Such avenues as parthenogenesis and SCNT somatic cell nuclear transfer (an unfertilized egg and one's own skin cells)will have to compete for support in the private sector.
I have given up on a cure in my lifetime and believe we need ALL kinds of research if we are ever going to conquer these diseases.
This is a compromise; an expansion of the Bush policy, better than nothing to be sure, but not enough if your life has been destroyed.
Where are the Embryonic Stem Cell Cures?
While it is fashionable to say that we are in favor of science, one must also be aware that some lines of research are more successful than others. One of the best ways to determine success is to look at where private investment is going.
The reason proponents of embryonic stem cell research are so keen on government funding is that private investment is going almost exclusively to adult stem cell research.
The reason? While proponents of embryonic stem cell research loftily speak of the "promise of cures" for everything from spinal cord injury to Alzheimer's to Parkinson's to halitosis, the simple fact of the matter is that not one single successful cure has been produced, despite the millions spent on such research. In fact, in animal studies, embryonic stem cells have actually created rampaging cancers -- a "cure" that is far worse than the disease itself.
Adult stem cells, however, have been used in dozens of successful trials and with little or no cancer risk. Furthermore, adult stem cells sidestep the whole ethical conundrum of abortion and human experimentation on humans incapable of standing up for themselves.
Looking at the above facts, one might be forgiven if he came to the opinion that perhaps we would be better off without government run research or health care.