Two new Reports on Stem Cell Research

[Gil Lieberman <gil_l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From John Walker's Internet News 5 Dec. 99

  Two new Reports on Stem Cell Research
"Draft National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guidelines for Research
Involving Human Pluripotent Stem Cells" (December 1999)

NIH News Release

NIH Stem Cell Information

"Stem Cell Research and Applications: Monitoring the Frontiers of
Biomedical Research" -- AAAS/ ICS [.pdf, 201K]

Stem Cell Research and Applications: Scientific, Ethical, and Policy
Issues -- AAAS


Two reports regarding human stem cell research have been recently
placed online. Released on December 2, the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) draft guidelines for stem cell use "recommend procedures
to help ensure that NIH-funded human pluripotent stem cell research
is conducted in an ethical and legal manner." The full text of the
guidelines is preceded by a statement from the NIH Director. Readers
are welcome to comment on the guidelines by January 30, after which
time a final version will be published, an oversight process will be
put in place, and NIH funding of such projects is expected to
commence. Users can also read the NIH press release and visit the
Institute's Stem Cell Information page, which offers a number of
related publications and statements. The second recently released
report, from the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS) and the Institute for Civil Society (ICS), explores the
scientific and ethical issues involved in the use of embryonic stem
(ES) cells and embryonic germ (EG) cells in medical research. While
the report acknowledges the "varied social, political, ethical, and
religious viewpoints to be considered in discussions about the
scientific use of tissue from human embryos and fetuses," it
concludes that human stem cell research holds enormous potential and
advocates both private and public funding of such projects. Users can
read the full text of the report, which includes specific suggestions
and guidelines for the future of stem cell research, in .pdf format.
The main AAAS stem cell site offers a summary of the findings and
recommendations and several bioethics-related resources. [MD]