Just a few months ago, President Obama promised that scientific decisions would be “based on fact, not ideology” as he signed an executive order overturning Bush’s federal ban on embryonic stem cell funding. As of today, the number of stem cell lines that are now eligible for federal funding has been greatly increased due to the new guidelines from the National Institutes of Health. However, some methods for deriving lines of stem cells are still left with no federal funding.

Let’s start with the good news first. The NIH has ruled that embryonic stem cell lines derived from embryos left over from In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) clinics are eligible to receive federal funding. This is great news since scientists can now receive funding for a more diverse population of embryonic stem cell lines. The bad news: the NIH will not allow funding of stem cell lines derived from Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, a process whereby the DNA from an adult cell is put into a female oocyte (egg) to produce a stem cell.

This is somewhat of a set-back considering the expectations set up by President Obama. Nuclear transfer would allow scientists to develop patient specific stem cells, which will aid in the future of stem cell therapies. Without proper funding, the government is limiting research, and this will only contribute to the terrible brain drain of the United States. Perhaps we will see federal funding for nuclear transfer in another decade…after Great Britain, Japan or South Korea has perfected it.

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