31. Stem Cells

Date Source Title Summary Other Categories
07.26.2001 Nature Top senator pushes new stem-cell compromise Bill Frist, the only physician in the Senate, said on 18 July that stem-cell research should be federally funded "within a carefully regulated, fully transparent framework [that ensures] the highest level of respect for ... the human embryo". His ten-point plan for the research would restrict it to an unspecified, finite number of embryonic stem-cell lines - an idea that many biologists oppose (see Nature 412, 107; 2001.)
07.16.2001 Washington Post To mine stem cells from human embryos The question of creating human embryos specifically for medical research is no longer theoretical. Six months after the British Parliament passed a law permitting such research in Britain, a clinic in the United States says its own work is well under way.
07.12.2001 New York Times Conservatives Pressure Bush in Cell Debate For all the compromise on embryonic stem cell research, many leaders in the anti-abortion movement say they are counting on President Bush to abide by his campaign promises and hold the line against federal financing for such research.
07.12.2001 New York Times For Clinic, Stem Cell Test Is Rebirth of Old Debate On Tuesday, the Jones Institute's scientists announced that they had mixed eggs and sperm for the express purpose of extracting stem cells from the resulting embryos.
07.12.2001 Washington Post Firm Aims to Clone Embryos for Stem Cells Scientists in Mass. have started experiments aimed at creating cloned human embryos from which embryonic stem cells can be derived (a process to create custom stem cells). This is the first open acknowledgment of the attempt to create cloned human entities in the US. 33. Cloning
07.06.2001 Washington Post Clone Study Casts Doubt on Stem Cells Studies have shown that mice cloned from embryonic stem cells may look identical but actually harbour unique genetic abnormalities. This could explain why many clones do not survive to birth. These findings suggest that the cloning process itself may scramble molecular switches. 33. Cloning
07.05.2001 Nature Imported stem cells deepen Germany's ethical divide The debate in Germany over stem cell research has redoubled after at least one scientist was found to import human embryonic stem cells.  The development of ES cell lines is prohibited in Germany but their import is not.
06.12.2001 Washington Post Stem Cell Research Divides Administration The Bush administration is divided over whether to fund experimentation on cells from human embryos. Under Clinton administration guidelines (not yet implemented), federally funded researchers may not destroy embryos but may conduct experiments on cells that privately funded researchers have retrieved from embryos.
06.2001 Nature Genetics Stem cell decision time The technology for stem cell research is no longer new; with the significant ethical concerns surrounding its future, the time has come to decide where the technology will go. 30. Xenotransplantation
06.08.2001 Science German Leaders Spar Over Bioethics An intense debate over the ethics of embryo and genetic research is emerging in Germany, stepping up the pressure on a new federal bioethics council that was scheduled to hold its first meeting on 8 June. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology
05.11.2001 Science DFG Gives Embryo Research a Boost Germany's main research funding agency issued new guidelines paving the way for researchers to import human embryonic stem (ES) cells from other countries. The DFG also recommended that Parliament pass a law, if needed, that would allow German researchers to derive their own stem cell lines from surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics.
05.10.2001 Nature An End to Procrastination? The German position on human embryonic stem-cell research comes under review as the main grant-giving agency considers relaxing its stringent regulations at the same time as the government prepares to set up a national ethics council to advise government on issues relating to ethics. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology
05.10.2001 Nature Stem-cell research in doubt as funders clash with government Despite a ban in Germany to create human embryonic stem-cells, researchers and funders pause in their confrontation in a dispute over whether or not to fund research into stem-cells procured outside the country.  Moral and ethical issues and perceived public concerns are fueling the controversy.
04.27.2001 Science Disappearing Stem Cells, Disappearing Science A discussion of the impending Bush decision on Stem Cells. Discussion focuses on driving factors such as: politics, organized religion, commerce, the legal community, and patient advocacy groups. Suggestions for the decision-making process on stem cell policy are also mentioned.
04.27.2001 New York Times Stem-Cell Advances Are Likely to Heighten Ethics Debate Scientists report two major advances today in the concept of using embryonic cells to regenerate human tissues, results that are expected to sharpen the clash between advocates of biomedical research and opponents of abortion.  Embryonic stem cells should be able to generate all medically desired new tissues, once biologists can find the right natural signals to coax them into any desired cell type. 
04.27.2001 Washington Post New Potential for Stem Cells Suggested General discussion about the pro's and con's of embryonic stem cell (ESC) research and the policy issues surrounding their use.  Several bills proposed by Congress would criminalize not only human cloning but the cloning of  human embryos which would severely limit research. 33. Cloning
04.24.2001 New York Times Grants for Stem Cell Work Are Delayed The National Institutes of Health has been told to postpone the first meeting of a committee to review grant applications for research on human embryonic stem cells.    The Department of Health and Human Services put off the meeting until the department has completed a review of the legal basis for research with the cells, which hold promise of new therapies because they can generate all the tissues of the body.  Congress has forbidden the use of federal funds for any research in which a human embryo is destroyed.  Under the Clinton administration it was ruled that federal funds could be used to do research on the cells, but not to derive them.  It is this ruling that is under review.
04.21.2001 Washington Post Bush Administration Order Halts Stem Cell Meeting NIH guidelines passed under the Clinton administration permitted federal funding to be used to fund research on ESCs so long as no federal funds were used to destroy a human embryo (i.e. ESCs must be aquired using private funds. Bush wished to review this policy.
04.10.2001 Washington Post Human Fat May Provide Stem Cells Scientists for the first time have transformed human fat into a variety of different tissue types, suggesting the much reviled substance may be an unexpected source of cells useful for the treatment of a wide range of ills.
04.08.2001 BBC News Stem cells 'improve stroke recovery' Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and Guildford-based ReNeuron Ltd. found tests carried out on rats suggest stem cell transplants could help stroke victims regain movement, senses and understanding. The researchers found that cells move to whichever area needs repairing, wherever they are implanted in the brain. After the transplant, the stem cells, taken from mice, dispersed to the necessary areas of the brain, unlike foetal cell grafts, which remain in one place--suggesting that stem cell transplants are likely to be more effective than the foetal brain tissue grafts which have been used in experimental Parkinson's Disease treatments.
04.03.2001 New York Times Findings Deepen Debate on Using Embryonic Cells Adult stem cell research is racing ahead, but study of human embryonic stem cells is lagging because a major player, the host of academic researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health, has been sidelined. Under guidelines drawn up in the Clinton administration, the N.I.H. has accepted the first round of applications for research on the cells, but the Bush administration is reviewing the legal basis of the research and may act to halt federally financed researchers from using the cells.
02.22.2001 Washtech.com Nobel Laureates Back Stem Cell Research Hoping that sheer brainpower may help tip the balance in a heated political and ethical debate, 80 U.S. Nobel laureates have signed a letter to President Bush urging him to not block the first flow of federal dollars for research on human embryo cells.
02.17.2001 BBC News Stem cells repair stroke damage Stem cells can survive and develop into brain tissue when implanted into stroke-damaged rats, according to scientists. The finding adds weight to the theory that one day the cells may be able to help repair the damage left by strokes in humans.
01.25.2001 Nature Stem cell research to start in Britain British scientists have been given the go-ahead to carry out research on cloned human embryos aimed at the treatment of diseases. Such research — which is likely to remain outlawed in most of the rest of Europe — could now begin in Britain before the end of the year following Moday's approval by the House of Lords.
01.2001 Nature Biotech French ethics law revised The French government, following the UK, has proposed changes to its 1994 Bioethics law to allow research on human embryos and facilitate the development of new therapies from work on embryonic stem cells (ESCs)
01.05.2001 Science EMBRYO RESEARCH: British Parliament Approves New Rules The British House of Commons has overwhelmingly approved new rules governing research on human embryos in the United Kingdom.
01.04.2001 Nature Parliament gives green light to stem-cell research Britain’s Members of Parliament (MPs) agreed by 366 to 174 on 19 December [2000] to approve changes to the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act of 1990 allowing the use of human embryos for research into therapies for serious diseases.
12.21.2000 Nature Stem cells: Panacea, or Pandora's box? Another “year-in-review” type analysis of another biotech controversy, stem cell research. Politics and milestones in stem-cell research in the year 2000 are described with some analysis.
12.21.2000 Nature Stem-cell work in the balance The effect of current and future US politics on stem-cell research in the United States is examined in this article. Notably, the extent to which Bush’s new administration may effect federal funding for work on human embryonic stem cells is speculated.
12.2000 Nature Biotech Stem cells hunt tumors Scientists at Harvard University and Layton Bioscience have found that stem cells can migrate throughout the brain and preferentially juxtapose themselves to metastasizing tumor cells. Experiments in rats demonstrated that these stem cells can be used to deliver therapeutic molecules to target tumor cells with impressive accuracy.
12.07.2000 Nature France opens door to use of embryos in stem-cell research The French government is to submit a bioethics bill to parliament that would lift its ban on human embryo research.The bill will state that therapeutic cloning human embryos to create embryonic stem cells should "not be excluded a priori", as it may become necessary should other techniques fail.
11.16.2000 Nature European panel rejects creation of human embryos for research A report giving top-level advice to the European Commission states that approving scientists to create human embryos for use in stem-cell research is "premature". The new report was prepared by the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), chaired by French high-court judge Nöelle Lenoir, and recommends “prudence”.
11.16.2000 Nature Ethics can boost science This article cautions against premature conclusions on the scientific, and ethical, viability of embryonic stem-cell research. Limited European positions on stem-cell research are canvassed. 39. General Issue about Research
10.09.2000 BBC News Step forward in stem cell control Scientists announced that they can now direct the early development of human embryonic stem cells in the lab. If they can obtain full control of this process they may be able to "grow up" replacement tissues to treat a range of degenerative diseases in which specific cell types have become damaged. If the technology is married to that of cloning, it may even be possible to create perfect-match tissue that is not rejected by the patient's immune system. Their findings are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
10.2000 Nature Awkward Inconsistencies of a Stem-Cell Rule The US government's clever interpretation of the law lets stem-cell research proceed, but leaves it exposed to challenges. The guidelines allow federal funds for stem-cell research but not for the derivation of the cells themselves. They satisfy US researchers' immediate concerns, but they rest on fragile logic. Opponents of abortion correctly point out that the rules do not clarify existing laws against embryonic research, but rather circumvent them. Researchers on federal grants also worry that privately funded colleagues will gain an edge in experimental manipulation of stem cells which they derive for themselves. Reliance on the distinction between use and derivation leaves the future of the research uncertain, subject to the influence of politics and of the courts.