The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued new guidelines for federal funding eligibility of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research, loosening almost a decade of constrained financial support for academic researchers. Under the new rules, which took effect July 7, the NIH will establish a registry of fundable lines to which scientists can apply for inclusion. Stem cell lines derived before this date will be reviewed case by case for eligibility. In March, President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on hESC research established by the Bush administration (Nat. Biotechnol. 27, 407, 2009), and requested the NIH draw up new rules. The draft guidelines released in April, established that fundable research must be limited to in vitro fertilization leftovers, and this requirement remains unchanged in the final guidelines. But outdated informed consent rules included in the draft, which would have forced laboratories to discard valuable lines, have been revised. Some restrictions remain, such as the exclusion of stem cells derived from embryos created for research, though overall, researchers are satisfied. “The new guidelines will hopefully open new opportunities for grants on the new lines, reduce some of the administrative burdens in the lab, and be better all around for our science,” says George Daley, director of stem cell transplantation at Children's Hospital in Boston.