Ruling puts stem cell research on hold
A federal judge’s ruling has, at least temporarily, blocked efforts to expand stem cell research, based on a decision that says “regulations designed to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research violated a law [the Dickey Wicker Amendment] prohibiting destruction of embryos for research purposes.”
When stem cells like these human embryonic stem cells divide, each new cell has the potential to remain a stem cell or become a cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell or a red blood cell. Photo: National Institutes of Health
It’s yet to be determined what the implications of this ruling [PDF] will be if it stands, but it could affect millions of dollars of federally-funded research. AHCJ has some background and links to help reporters who might be looking at how this will affect local researchers.
- PBS’ Newshour has a roundup of some of the coverage.
- The Scientist Who Helped Stall Stem Cell Research
- Obama order expected to increase speed, efficiency of stem cell research (April 2009)
- Covering stem cells: Background on science, politics and global competition: Terri Somers, who was then biotechnology writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, wrote a primer on stem cell research for AHCJ members. (Note: Somers is now director of communications for BIOCOM, an industry association based in Southern California.)
- Mark Johnson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a three-part series detailing the discovery of how to create embryonic stem cells out of normal cells. One of the key labs in the research is located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The online package includes a time-lapse video of an embryo’s first five days of development and links to a discussion about the ethics of stem cell research.
- Stem cell research in California: A presentation by Zach W. Hall, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, offered at a plenary on stem cell policy at Health Journalism 2007.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information
- NIH Stem Cell Information
- Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Decade of Debate from Bush to Obama; Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (2009)
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