The United States experienced some setbacks in stem cell research during the Bush administration. In 2001, then President Bush limited federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to existing cell lines. Of the 60 lines at that time, only 21 were considered viable. Several states, including California and New Jersey, pushed their own funding to keep their research centers moving with the global effort to unlock the secrets of embryonic stem cells.
Why Embryonic Stem Cells Matter
Stem cells are present in the developing embryo and even in the adult human organism. However, embryonic stem cells have the potential to become any cell in any tissue of the human body (pluripotent), while adult stem cells tend to differentiate into a particular lineage, depending on the tissue in which they are found. Some experimental models, called induced pluripotency, have stimulated adult stem cells to do more, but scientists are still studying how to control the process .
It is the vast potential of embryonic stem cells that make them candidates for tissue regeneration, treating genetic diseases, and repairing aberrant systems. There is still much research to be done to understand how to direct the cells down the lineage of interest and control the amount of proliferation once they have differentiated. Embryonic stem cell research, and stem cell research as a whole, has the potential to open the door to a number of treatments and biotechnologies, such as a cure for blindness.
New Federal Funding Policies
In early 2009, President Obama signed an executive order that overturned the Bush policies regarding federal funding of embryonic stem cells. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the major agency of the Department of Health and Human Services that receives the majority of federal funds directed to scientific research (nearly 30 million dollars according to Melissa Pollak in the National Science Foundation's February 2008 report on "Federal R&D Funding"), was directed to create strict guidelines that would prevent any federally funded research from being used to clone human beings.
In December 2009, current NIH Director Francis Collins approved 27 new embryonic cell lines for federal funding. There are now 40 approved lines, which were developed and submitted for consideration by Harvard University, Rockefeller University, and Children’s Hospital Boston (Harvard Medical School).
The Limitations on the New Stem Cell Lines
Even in the current open climate, limitations were placed on what type of studies could use the approved cell lines and receive funding. The new lines were approved for studying pancreatic development, which is currently being pursued to understand diabetes. However, this does not prevent additional study areas from being approved in the future.
Alicia Mae Prater - Alicia received her doctorate in Experimental Pathology in 2007. She has been a freelance writer and scientific editor since 2008.
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