Stem cells

The Bush administration’s limits on federal financing for embryonic stem cell research are turning out to be a lot more restrictive than originally advertised. Only a minority of the stem cell lines that the president implied might become available under his policy have actually panned out. Thus it was extremely good news when Harvard researchers agreed to share some 17 new stem cell lines.

Embryonic stem cell research is controversial because extracting the cells requires the destruction of days-old embryos. When Bush announced his policy on August 9, 2001, he sought a compromise that would allow some research to go forward without encouraging further destruction of early-stage embryos. Though the administration estimated that more than 60 existing cell lines, later raised to 78, might qualify to be used in research, many of those cell lines have failed to develop. The National Institutes of Health says 15 stem cell lines are currently ready for use.

NIH officials say the limiting factor on accelerating the field has been a shortage of qualified scientists applying for federal grants, not any inability to get cell lines to work with.

NIH has done a creditable job in getting cell lines ready and sponsoring research.

Yet the day will surely come when scientists will need a wider variety of cell lines for research and potential clinical applications. — The New York Times