Human embryonic stem cellsWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, NISSIM BENVENISTY
In addition to the threat that federal funding will be banned for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research, some scientists are struggling with the logistics of actually obtaining the cell lines, according to a survey of more than 200 US hESC researchers published in the December issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology. Specifically, nearly one quarter of respondents said they’d faced excess delays after ordering lines, and more than one quarter said they never did receive the line they were after.
“The survey results provide empirical data to support previously anecdotal concerns that delays and impediments to acquiring certain human embryonic stem cell lines may be hindering stem cell science in the United States,” Aaron Levine of the Georgia Institute of Technology said in a press release.
More than three quarters of the survey respondents reported only using three or...
“These results illustrate that many human embryonic stem cell scientists in the United States are not conducting comparative studies with a diverse set of human embryonic stem cell lines, which raises concern that at least some results are cell-line specific rather than broadly applicable,” said Levine. “Federal and state funding agencies may want to consider encouraging research using multiple diverse human embryonic stem cell lines to improve the reliability of research results.”
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