New embryonic stem-cell lines get green light

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday approved the first human embryonic stem cells for experiments by federally funded scientists under a new policy designed to expand government support for one of the most promising — and contentious — fields of biomedical research.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) authorized 11 lines of cells produced by scientists at Children's Hospital in Boston and two lines created by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York. All were obtained from embryos left by couples seeking treatment for infertility.

"This is a real change in the landscape," NIH Director Francis Collins said.

The move was hailed by supporters of the research that would allow scientists to start using millions of dollars in taxpayer money to study hundreds of lines of cells that had been put off-limits by President Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, on moral grounds.

Under the Bush policy, federally funded scientists were limited to studying just a handful of cell lines that many criticized as deficient, had to erect cumbersome bureaucratic procedures to separate government-funded research from privately funded work and were sometimes prevented from sharing ideas.

Now, although embryonic stem-cell lines will still have to be created using private funding, federal funding will be permitted for experiments using a much larger array of lines, vastly expanding the number of scientists and types of experiments permitted with taxpayer dollars.

The announcement was condemned by opponents of the research, who said that aside from being unethical, the work is unnecessary because of the availability of adult stem cells and other more recently identified alternatives.

"Ethically, we don't think any taxpayer should have to fund research that relies on destroying early human life at any stage," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "But the tragedy of this is multiplied by the fact that no one can think what the problem is that can only be solved by these cells."

Collins, an evangelical Christian who has argued that science and religion do not need to be in conflict, defended the work. "I think that there is an argument to be made that what is being done is ethically acceptable," Collins said, "even if you believe in the inherent sanctity of the human embryo."

Many scientists believe embryonic stem cells will yield fundamental insights into the underlying causes of a variety of diseases and could be used to cure diabetes, Parkinson's disease, paralysis and other ailments. But extracting the cells destroys days-old embryos. In an effort to prevent tax dollars from encouraging the destruction of more embryos, Bush on Aug. 9, 2001, restricted federal funding to studies involving what turned out to be 21 stem cell lines already in existence.

Critics have long complained that those cells had shortcomings, such as defects that could make them dangerous to transplant into people. In the meantime, hundreds of newer lines have been developed that offer a variety of opportunities. Many, for example, carry defects for specific disease and could yield crucial clues into how those illnesses develop and might be cured.

Obama fulfilled a campaign promise in March by signing an executive order lifting the Bush restrictions and ordering the NIH to develop guidelines to decide which lines could be ethically used.

In a compromise, the guidelines finalized in July limited funding to lines created from excess fertility-clinic embryos as long as they were deemed to have been obtained ethically. The lines have to meet a strict set of criteria, such as making sure couples were not offered any financial incentives, knew the embryos would be destroyed for research and were offered the option of donating the embryos to other couples.

Some proponents of the research criticized the guidelines for not going further and allowing, for example, federal funds to be used to create embryos specifically for research purposes or by cloning techniques. In addition to the 13 stem-cell lines approved Wednesday, 96 more lines are awaiting vetting, and researchers indicated at least 254 more will be submitted for approval, Collins said.