WASHINGTON — The government is creating a master list of which embryonic stem cells qualify for taxpayer-funded research, now that President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions on the field.
The National Institutes of Health already had said it will fund only science that uses cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away, not cells created solely for research.
But final rules issued Monday settle a big question: Would new ethics requirements disqualify many of the stem cells created over the past decade, even the few funded under the Bush administration’s tight limits?
The NIH came up with a compromise, saying it deems those old stem cell lines eligible for government research dollars if scientists can prove they met the spirit of the new ethics standards. An NIH registry will list all that qualify.
“We think this is a reasonable compromise to achieve the president’s goal of both advancing science while maintaining rigorous ethical standards,” acting NIH Director Raynard Kington said Monday. “We believe that judgment is necessary.”
He wouldn’t speculate on how many old stem cells would qualify, but scientists welcomed the change.
“I expect that most existing lines will be found to have been ethically derived,” said Dr. Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan Center for Stem Cell Biology. “This will eventually make hundreds of new stem cell lines available for use.”
The issue: Trying to harness embryonic stem cells – master cells that can morph into any cell of the body – to one day create better treatments, maybe even cures, for ailments ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s to spinal cord injury.
Culling those stem cells destroys a days-old embryo, something many strongly oppose on moral grounds. But once created, those cells can propagate indefinitely in lab dishes.
The Bush administration had limited taxpayer-funded research to small number of stem cell batches, or lines, already in existence as of August 2001. But this spring, Obama lifted that restriction, potentially opening the door to widespread government funding of embryonic stem cell research. He left it to the NIH to set the boundaries.
Federal law forbids using taxpayer money to create or destroy an embryo. At issue here are rules for working with cells that initially were created using private money.
The rules go into effect Tuesday, and list some strict requirements that any newly made stem cells must come with documentation that the woman or couple who donated the original embryo gave full informed consent. For example, they must have been told of other options for leftover embryos, such as donating to another infertile woman, and the donation must have been voluntary.
That kind of documentation may not exist for stem cell lines created years ago, NIH’s Kington said – the NIH rules essentially form the first national stem cell standards.