“Latest Stem Cells News”

THE SWIRL of controversy that greeted President Obama’s executive order lifting the ban on federal funding of stem cell research in March didn’t make a significant return when the final rules were released over the summer. That’s because the National Institutes of Health successfully navigated a minefield of ethical and moral questions. To protect those regulations from politics and changes by another administration, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) soon will introduce the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2009. The legislation would codify Mr. Obama’s executive order permitting federal funding of such research within guidelines established by the NIH and would require that they be reviewed periodically (…)

Mr. Obama’s executive order overturned one issued by President George W. Bush in 2001 that allowed federal funding only for those stem cell lines already developed. Scientists ultimately found the number of approved lines too few and the utility of those lines limited.

For facilities with stem cell lines developed on or before July 7, the NIH will establish a committee of scientists, ethicists and advocates to examine on a case-by-case basis the procedures and paperwork to determine whether the lines were derived with voluntary informed consent from donors and in a manner consistent with the new rules. This panel would also make the same evaluation of stem cell lines originating outside the United States. There are an estimated 700 stem cell lines already in existence.

Incoming search terms:

Five years after the passage of Proposition 71, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine is awarding grants for stem-cell research targeted at clinical applications. In what both the San Diego Union-Tribune and Knight Science Journalism Tracker are calling an “irony,” ten of the 14 grants are going to researchers working with adult stem-cells.

On Thursday, October 29, the New York Times reported: “In a tacit acknowledgment that the promise of human embryonic stem cells is still far in the future, California’s stem cell research program on Wednesday awarded grants intended to develop therapies using mainly other, less controversial cells.

“The $230 million in grants awarded Wednesday to California universities and companies represent a big step toward moving stem cells from basic research toward application in treating diseases like cancer and AIDS. Grant recipients are supposed to have a therapy ready for initial human testing in four years.

“But only four of the 14 projects involve embryonic stem cells. The others will use so-called adult stem cells or conventional drugs intended to kill cancer stem cells, which are thought to give rise to tumors.

“The grants thus represent a departure from the program’s original mission. California voters approved the 10-year, $3 billion effort in 2004 largely to get around restrictions on embryonic stem cell research imposed by the administration of President George W. Bush.”

Incoming search terms:

The U.S. government approved the first 13 batches of human embryonic stem cells on Wednesday, enabling researchers using them to get millions of dollars in federal funding as promised by President Barack Obama in March.

“Today we are announcing the approval of the first 13 stem cell lines,” Collins told reporters in a telephone briefing.

In March, Obama lifted restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, George W. Bush.

He could not lift a restriction set by Congress, called the Dickey-Wicker amendment, that forbids the use of federal money to make the stem cells, which require destruction of a human embryo. But the decision made it possible for researchers to use federal funds to work with cells that others have made.

Incoming search terms:

A law has been proposed again to the U.S. Senate to allow for federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. Democratic Senator Tom Harkin and Republican colleague Arlen Specter declared that the proposal allows for federal funds to finance research done using embryonic stem cells derived from leftover embryos from fertility clinics.

“It is the same bill proposed and approved by the House and the Senate in 2007, but vetoed by President George W. Bush,” was read in their statement to the press.

President Barack Obama promised to eliminate limits on federal funding imposed on research.

“For too long politics have slowed research on treatments that could save the lives of many citizens. President Barack Obama has promised to eliminate the restrictions imposed by Bush, and I hope that he does so soon. Furthermore, I hope this is protected by a federal law so it will not be affected by future changes in the administration,” added Harkin.

The proposed law is also supported by Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein, and Republican Orrin Hatch.

Incoming search terms:

Texas researchers who thought President Barack Obama’s executive order lifting the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research would finally free them to ramp up work with the cutting-edge science are facing a new obstacle: the state Legislature.
Eighteen of the state’s leading scientists signed a letter sent to the Legislature Monday objecting to a provision inserted in the Senate budget bill last week that would ban state funding from supporting research involving the destruction of human embryos.

“Such an amendment would be detrimental to Texas,” said the statement. “A ban would halt ongoing research projects and negatively impact the ability of Texas academic health institutions, both public and private, to competitively recruit and retain world-class scientists, professors and students in the biological sciences.”
The bill, which passed the Senate Finance Committee 6-5 with little discussion, is scheduled to come before the full Senate floor Wednesday. The House is working on its own budget bill.

Incoming search terms:

After Barack Obama’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections, the economic community, in the middle of a recession and the worst financial crisis in the past decades, continues to hold its breath. The Democrat’s victory induce change and potentially more difficult times for the energy, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and defense sectors, while the biotechnology and alternative energy sectors could be strengthened by the outcome of the elections. Obama has promised to increase investments in wind and solar energy and to spend 150 billion dollars in 10 years to hasten the development of hybrid automobiles and to increase the use of alternative energy on an “industrial scale”.

Incoming search terms: