NIH Draft Guidelines on Stem Cell Research Receives Some Praise, Some Concern
April 20, 2009
The federal government yesterday released its draft rules for funding embryonic stem cell research – expanding opportunities but stopping short of allowing government-sponsored scientific projects to use human embryos created solely for experimental purposes.
The National Institutes of Health proposed limiting federally funded research to use of embryos that would otherwise be discarded from fertility clinics. That is expected to significantly expand the number of stem cell lines available to researchers who seek to do basic research and develop treatments for a variety of intractable diseases.
But the Obama administration made clear it does not intend to finance research that uses embryos created solely for research purposes or cloned by scientists – more controversial procedures with less public and congressional support.
The proposed rules “look narrow on the surface and they are narrow,” said Sheila Jasanoff, a professor of science and technology studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School. “It’s trying not to get into the morally thorny territory of creating embryos for research, which is unsettled and undeliberated – and potentially politically quite messy.”
The proposed guidelines for receiving federal money will be open to public comment before they are made final in July.
Within minutes of yesterday’s announcement, researchers in the Boston area publicly praised the proposed rules for making new research possible. Privately, some expressed concern that the rules might exclude certain lines of stem cells currently in use because there is no paper trail showing the original donors consented to their use. Some scientists elsewhere in the country are also concerned that the guidelines exclude cloned embryos that could be used to develop genetically tailored organs more effective for transplant.
“It is an important step forward,” said Dr. Terence Flotte, dean of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, of the draft guidelines. “It probably would open up scores of existing [stem cell] lines for research.” Once final, the new rules will allow researchers to get to work quickly, said Flotte. In the fall, UMass Medical School established a stem cell bank and registry that it hopes to expand with federal funding.
Continue reading the complete story at The Boston Globe.
To access the NIH Draft Guidelines