Stem Cell Research
Publication Date: January 2006
Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Author(s):
Research Area: Health
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Abstract:
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into virtually any cell in the body, and they may have the potential to treat medical conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease. In August 2001, President Bush announced that for the first time federal funds would be used to support research on human embryonic stem cells, but funding would be limited to "existing stem cell lines." NIH has established a registry listing the 78 human embryonic stem cell lines that are eligible for use in federally funded research, but only 22 cell lines are currently available. Scientists are concerned about the quality and longevity of these 22 stem cell lines. For a variety of reasons, many believe research advancement requires new embryonic stem cell lines, and for certain applications, stem cells derived from cloned embryos may offer the best hope for understanding and treating disease. However, an investigation by Seoul National University found that scientist Hwang Woo Suk had fabricated results on deriving patient-matched stem cells from cloned embryos -- a major setback for the field. A significant cohort of pro-life advocates supports stem cell research; those opposed are concerned that stem cell isolation requires embryo destruction.
Some have argued that stem cell research be limited to adult stem cells obtained from tissues such as bone marrow or umbilical cord blood. They argue that adult stem cells should be pursued instead of embryonic stem cells because they believe the derivation of stem cells from embryos is ethically unacceptable. Other scientists believe adult stem cells should not be the sole target of research because of important scientific and technical limitations. Some scientists are exploring the possibility of obtaining human embryonic stem cells that bypass the destruction of living human embryos. The President's Council on Bioethics cite four potential alternative sources of human embryonic stem cells in a May 2005 paper.
On May 24, 2005, the House passed H.R. 810 (Castle) which would allow federal support of research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo, thus negating the August 2001 Bush stem cell policy limitation on "existing stem cell lines." On July 29, 2005, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced his support for H.R. 810/S. 471 (Specter); President Bush has threatened a veto. Action on the Weldon bill (passed the House in the 107th and 108th and stalled in the Senate) is likely; it was reintroduced in the 109th Congress as H.R. 1357 and S. 658 (Brownback). The bill bans the process of cloning as well as the importation of any product derived from an embryo created via cloning. It bans not only reproductive applications, but also research on therapeutic uses, which has implications for stem cell research. Advocates of the legislative ban say that allowing any form of human cloning research to proceed raises serious ethical issues and will inevitably lead to the birth of a baby that is a human clone. Critics argue that the measure would curtail medical research and prevent Americans from receiving life-saving treatments created overseas. S. 876, H.R. 1822 and S. 1520 ban only human reproductive cloning. Bills focused on alternative sources of stem cells (H.R. 3144/S. 1557) have also been introduced. On December 20, 2005, the President signed H.R. 2520 (P.L. 109-129), which provides for the collection and maintenance of human cord blood stem cells for the treatment of patients and for research. This report will be updated as needed.