Research using stem cells has been authorized in Britain, but was
halted in the U.S. by President George W. Bush. Bush decided on
2001-AUG-9 to allow research to start again in government labs,
but restricted research to use only existing lines of stem cells. Re-
search continues in U.S. private labs and in both government and
private labs in the UK, Japan, France, Australia, and other coun-
tries. 199
NIH FACT SHEET ON HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM
CELL RESEARCH GUIDELINES
Updated January 2001
The Promise of Stem CellResearch
Humanpluripotentstemcellsareauniquescientificandmedicalresource.In1998,
scientistsattheUniversityofWisconsinandatJohnsHopkinsUniversityisolated
andsuccessfullyculturedhumanpluripotentstemcells.Thepluripotentstemcells
werederivedusingnon-Federalfundsfromearly-stageembryosdonatedvoluntar-
ilybycouplesundergoingfertilitytreatmentinaninvitrofertilization(IVF)clinic
orfromnon-livingfetusesobtainedfromterminatedfirsttrimesterpregnancies.In-
formedconsentwasobtainedfromthedonorsinbothcases.Womenvoluntarily
donatingfetaltissueforresearchdidsoonlyaftermakingthedecisiontoterminate
the pregnancy.
Becausepluripotentstemcellsgiverisetoalmostallofthecells
typesofthebody,suchasmuscle,nerve,heart,andblood,they
holdgreatpromiseforbothresearchandhealthcare.Thisadvance
inhumanbiologycontinuestogenerateenthusiasmamongscient-
ists,patientssufferingfromabroadrangeofdiseases,including
cancer,heartdiseaseanddiabetes,andtheirfamilies.Forexample,
further research using human pluripotent stem cells may help:
- Generatecellsandtissuefortransplantation.Pluripotentstem