Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Science and Society
  • Published:

Stem cells

US policies on human embryonic stem cells

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 9, pages 993–997 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The United States is a federal union with separate state jurisdictions. In part owing to the sometimes heated debate about public support for human embryonic stem-cell (ESC) research, there has been restricted federal support and little central regulation of this research to date. Instead, guidelines developed by scientific organizations have set principles for oversight and good practice for this research. These guidelines are functioning well, have influenced developing state regulations and, one hopes, will affect any future federal regulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Derivation of human embryonic stem cells.

References

  1. Thomson, J. A. et al. Embryonic stem cell lines derived from human blastocysts. Science 282, 1145–1147 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Shamblott, M. J. et al. Derivation of pluripotent stem cells from cultured human primordial germ cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 95, 13726–13731 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Takahashi, K. & Yamanaka, S. Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors. Cell 126, 663–676 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Takahashi, K. et al. Induction of pluripotent stem cells from adult fibroblasts by defined factors. Cell 131, 1–12 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Yu, J. et al. Induced pluripotent stem cell lines derived from human somatic cells. Science 318, 1917–1920 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Ethical Issues in Human Stem Cell Research. I. Report and recommendations. National Bioethics Advisory Commission [online], (1999).

  7. National Institutes of Health. Notice NOT-OD-01–059: funding of research using specified existing human embryonic stem cells. National Institutes of Health [online], (2001).

  8. Streiffer, R. Informed consent and federal funding for stem cell research. Hastings Cent. Rep. 38, 40–47 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. National Academies of Science [online], (2005).

  10. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. 2007 Amendments to the National Academies' Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. National Academies of Science [online], (2007).

  11. National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. 2008 Amendments to the National Academies' Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research. National Academies of Science [online], (2008).

  12. Moreno, J. D. & Hynes, R. O. Guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research. Nature Biotech. 23, 793–794 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. International Society for Stem Cell Research. Guidelines for the Conduct of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research, version 1. International Society for Stem Cell Research [online], (2006).

  14. Daley, G. Q. et al. The ISSCR guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research. Science 315, 603–604 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Hacein-Bey-Abina, S. et al. Insertional oncogenesis in 4 patients after retrovirus-mediated gene therapy of SCID-X1. J. Clin. Invest. 118, 3132–3142 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Stayn, S. Navigating emerging legal requirements in human embryonic stem cell research. Med. Res. Law Policy Rep. 5, 297–301 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Stayn, S. A guide to state laws on hESC research and a call for interstate dialogue. Med. Res. Law Policy Rep. 5, 718–725 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Nishikawa, S.-I. et al. The promise of human induced pluripotent stem cells for research and therapy. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 9, 725–729 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank A. Charo, G. Daley, F. Sharples, S. Stayn and K. Wilson for their helpful suggestions on the content of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Richard Hynes is at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA. rohynes@mit.edu,

    Richard O. Hynes

Authors
  1. Richard O. Hynes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

FURTHER INFORMATION

Richard Hyne's homepage

Glossary

Chimaera

An organism that is composed of cells from at least two genetically different sources. The cells could be from the same or separate species.

Cybrid

A cell with a nucleus from one cell and cytoplasm from another. For example, it is possible to reprogramme a somatic cell nucleus by inserting it into the cytoplasm of an oocyte or another pluripotent cell.

Embryonic stem cell

(ESC). A primitive (undifferentiated) cell that is derived from early embryos. These are usually derived from the blastocyst (50–250-cell stage), but are sometimes derived from the morula (16–32-cell stage). ESCs have the potential to become a wide range of specialized cell types.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell

A cell that has been derived from a somatic cell by reprogramming the nucleus to induce pluripotency, using exogenous genes or other factors.

Nuclear transfer

(NT). Replacing the nucleus of a cell with the nucleus of another cell.

Pluripotency

The capacity of a cell to develop into cells of all three germ layers (endoderm, ectoderm and mesoderm) and most cells and tissues of an embryo.

Reproductive cloning

The generation of viable organisms from cloned pluripotent cells.

Reprogramming

The alteration of the epigenetic programme of a nucleus or cell to change its differentiation capacity. For example, a differentiated cell of limited potential is reprogrammed by nuclear transfer (NT) or by the introduction of exogenous genes (currently using retroviruses but alternative methods are being researched).

Retroviruses

RNA viruses that are used as carriers or vectors to introduce genes into the genomes of cells. Retroviruses are used in basic research and have been used in gene therapy, in which they have been reported to induce cancer in a limited number of patients.

Somatic cell

Any cell other than a germ cell or a germ-cell precursor.

Stem cell

A cell that has the ability to divide extensively in vivo or in culture and to give rise to specialized cells.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hynes, R. US policies on human embryonic stem cells. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 9, 993–997 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2528

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2528

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing