Obama May Broaden Federal Funding for Stem Cell Research
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, DECEMBER 8, 2008
When George W. Bush took office in 2001, one of his first executive orders was to restrict federal funding of stem cell research based on his belief that destroying embryos to obtain the cells was equivalent to destroying human life. The limited circumstances where federal funding could support stem cell investigations covered 60 existing stem cell lines created from embryos that had already been destroyed. At the time, President Bush said this was the only stem cell material eligible for federal funding because "the life and death decision has already been made." He encouraged federal funding for umbilical cord, placenta, adult and animal stem cells.
In 2005, President Bush vetoed a bill that sought to authorize research on surplus embryos from fertility clinics that were frozen or scheduled to be destroyed, saying the legislation condoned the "taking of innocent human life" and that it was incumbent upon a "decent society" to protect these embryos regardless of any scientific justification for the research.
President-elect Obama was one of the original co-sponsors on the vetoed bill. When it was reintroduced in 2007 and vetoed again, Obama issued a statement describing the urgency of stem cell research for patients with a number of conditions, including spinal cord injury, and the limitations of other sources of stem cells (adult stem cells, for example, can be difficult to collect and have limited differentiation potential.) Obama's advocacy for embryonic stem cell research has proven a key issue, with the WSJ reporting last month that he may move fast to deliver on earlier promises to overturn President Bush's stem cell policy and make federal funding available to stem cell researchers.
Obama has stood behind the need for stem cell research to further treatment options for patients with a number of diseases and health conditions including Alzheimer's, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. According to his presidential platform, once inaugurated Obama will quickly issue an executive order to expand stem cell funding to support research on new lines of stem cells (beyond the 60 lines existing at the time of Bush's 2001 order) and echo the National Research Council's ethics guidelines. These guidelines include participating institutions establishing a Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight committee to review experiments and practices as well as regulations for deriving new cell lines, donation and banking.
It's unclear how swiftly the new policy would affect orthopedics; companies currently developing stem cell technologies, such as Osiris and Cytori, use mesenchymal and adipose-derived cells respectively. Obama's goal of broadening sources for progenitor cells could create new opportunities within the industry, though these techniques would clearly be years away from commercial use. The current financial climate could make those years a struggle: as discussed by the San Francisco Chronicle, the economic downturn will surely impact how federal money is spent.
