If research involving human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is to achieve its potential for creating breakthrough medical therapies, additional new cell lines should be created, and therapeutic cloning--or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)--should be employed, according to an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences. Both of these views are strongly opposed by the Bush administration, and the US House of Representatives has voted to outlaw human SCNT techniques by public and private resea

In the midst of this summer's rancorous US House of Representatives debate over the legality of cloning, an exasperated Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) complained, "Mr. Speaker, we really should not be debating this at all. None of us is equipped to do so. We simply do not know enough." Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) agreed. "In my nine years in this chamber, this is the least informed collectively that the 435 members of this body have ever been on any issue." In the end, the July 31, 265-162 vote

Federal funding for research involving human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is moving closer to reality as the Bush administration rushes to finalize a public registry of approved cell line providers. In late August, the National Institutes of Health announced 10 organizations that it said had developed 64 stem cell lines that meet all the criteria for federal funding (see table). Nevertheless, some licensing and patent issues need to be resolved and new and potentially complicating questions are e

Within months, scientists will be able to compete for about $100 million in federal grants for research involving human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Following President George W. Bush's decision last month to provide limited federal funding for human ES cell research, based on existing stem cell lines only, officials at the National Institutes of Health are rushing to finalize grant procedures, which will include a public registry database of 60-70 government-certified lines and their suppliers.

Biopharmaceutical researchers fear how pending federal legislation outlawing the cloning of human cells will restrict their abilities to find cures for major degenerative diseases.1,2 Some also see lawmakers impinging on established nonhuman cloning techniques essential for the discovery of new drugs and therapies. The source of all this worry? The US House of Representatives passed July 31 by a wide margin a bill (H.R. 2505) sponsored by Reps. David Weldon (R-Fla.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) th

Recognizing the growing importance of computational and information sciences to biology, the National Institutes of Health is establishing a new Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CBCB). The new center is designed to support research and training in areas that merge biology with computer sciences, engineering, mathematics, and physics. "The future of the biological sciences will be driven by advances in bioinformatics and computational biology," says Marvin Cassman, director o

Toby Bradshaw, an associate professor at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle, had been studying traditionally bred and genetically engineered Poplar trees as part of a developmental biology program of interest to companies involved in paper and wood manufacturing. In the same lab facility, assistant professor Sarah Reichard had been growing 100 showy stickseed plants from tissue cultures. With only 300 of the endangered plants (hackelia venusta) remaining in t

Editor's Note: This is the third installment of a 4 part series on regional hot spots for life sciences employment. The final installment focusing on Research Triangle, N.C. will appear in the October 29 issue. When starting his biotech firm, Psychiatric Genomics, Inc., in Massachusetts last year, Michael Palfreyman found the life sciences business environment a little cramped. "In Boston, real estate prices are through the roof," he says. "There's no good access to incubator space and there's c

The biotechnology business has ridden a roller coaster in the financial markets for the past 18 months. The gyrations have been enough to make even the most stalwart investor swallow hard. Enthusiastic over the potential of human genome sequencing and depressed about the downturn in the dot-com markets, investors drove up values in biotech stocks by 300 percent and more. But by spring, the high-tech stocks' Titanic pitches had finally helped tow biotech stocks down by 50 percent. Now, with analy

Apoptosis, a key process in the development of embryonic tissue differentiation, later helps to regulate the normal cellular life cycle by destroying damaged cells. When something goes awry, too little apoptosis can make cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy and even death-defiant. At the other extreme, premature or excessive apoptosis has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, and to nerve cell loss in strokes. Not surprisingly, many major pharmaceutical companies rec

Urothelial bladder cancer, the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women, accounts for more than 54,000 new cases and 11,200 deaths annually. Cystoscopy and cytology, used to detect this transitional cell cancer in situ, have significant drawbacks, including relatively low sensitivity, patient discomfort, and infection risks. Now, a new U.S./European research consortium wants to create a simple, cost-effective, noninvasive diagnostic test to replace cystoscopy and cyto

Click to view the PDF file: Important Events in Stem Cell Research Graphic: Leza Berardone As the Bush administration stood on the verge this month of announcing a decision on whether the federal government will fund embryonic stem cell (ESC) research, the scientists involved braced themselves for the worst and continued planning for ways to move ahead. An issue that is politically, ethically, and religiously loaded, this tempest, like the issues of RU-486 and abortion before it, has galvani