Skip to main content

Researchers may abandon stem cell lines

Leading US research institutions may stop studying several federally-fundable linkurl:embryonic stem cell;https://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54749/ lines due to potential ethical problems surrounding the creation of the lines. As linkurl:reported;https://chronicle.com/daily/2008/07/3996n.htm by __The Chronicle of Higher Education__ today (July 28), Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities, and the linkurl:California Institute for Regenerative Medicine;https://www.the-scientist.com/blog/disp

Written byBob Grant
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Leading US research institutions may stop studying several federally-fundable linkurl:embryonic stem cell;https://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54749/ lines due to potential ethical problems surrounding the creation of the lines. As linkurl:reported;https://chronicle.com/daily/2008/07/3996n.htm by __The Chronicle of Higher Education__ today (July 28), Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities, and the linkurl:California Institute for Regenerative Medicine;https://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/52856/ (CIRM) are considering halting or have halted research on five of the 21 human stem cell lines linkurl:approved;https://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/12948/ to receive federal funding. University of Wisconsin bioethicist linkurl:Robert Streiffer;https://philosophy.wisc.edu/streiffer/ called the five lines into question in an linkurl:article;https://philosophy.wisc.edu/streiffer/PapersFolder/Streiffer%20-%202008%20Informed%20Consent%20and%20Federal%20Funding%20of%20SC%20Research.pdf he wrote in the May-June issue of the __Hastings Center Report__. In the article, Streiffer wrote that some embryonic stem cell donors were improperly informed before donating their cells. For example, Streiffer wrote that in at least one case, the consent forms that donors signed "states that the project in which the embryo donors were participating was limited to developing a technique for longer-term cultivation of embryonic cells, and that after the study was completed all the cells would be destroyed." In light of the ethical problems, Strieffer called for the Bush Administration's restrictions on stem cell research funding to be overturned. According to __The Chronicle__ story, citing a report by the Center for American Progress, expert panels at Johns Hopkins and Stanford have already decided to stop research on the five contested cell lines, but officials at Stanford told __The Chronicle__ that the report was "inaccurate" and that the no final decision has yet been made. A spokesman from CIRM told __The Chronicle__ that the institute is deciding whether or not to refer the issue to its ethics board.
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

    View Full Profile
Related articles background image
August 2026 Digest cover
August 2026

Epic Fail: Sea-Monkeys Sabotage Fieldwork

When Barry Hicks set out to photograph thrombolites, thousands of unexpected visitors photobombed his underwater images.

View this Issue
Improving rAAV Production for Viral Vector Manufacturing

Improving rAAV Production for Viral Vector Manufacturing

cytiva logo
Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Advancing Respiratory Immunity Through Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Research

Miltenyi
Scientist holding a clear 384-well PCR microplate in a laboratory

What Dictates PCR Success Before Amplification Begins?

Integra Logo
Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Axion Biosystems

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches European Newsletter Campaign with Exclusive Welcome Gifts

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches SuperNuclease ® Pro with Free Trial Program

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches Precisely Characterized Full-Length p-Tau217 Protein to Advance Next-Generation Alzheimer’s Biomarker Assay Development

A photo of a scientist placing the Resipher device on a 96-well plate.

Resipher: Continuous Live-Cell Mitochondrial Respiration Monitoring in 96-Well Plates

Lucid Scientific logo