top of page

The Stem Cell Research Continues

April 1999: NIH Director Harold Varmus gathers a committee of scientists,

ethicist, patients, lawyers, and clinicians to draft guidelines for federally funding of

embryonic stem cell research.

1999 to 2000: Presidential candidate George W. Bush states his opposition to human

embryonic stem cell research in one of his campaign speeches. The NIH continues to be

cautious about the funding proposals until after the presidential elections.

August 25, 2000: The published NIH Guidelines for Research Using Human Pluripotent

Stem Cells in the Federal Register goes into effect.

August 2001: The federal funding of any research using stem cells derived

after August 9, 2001 is prohibited by President Bush. However, private research or

research conducted state funding is not affected by his policy.

2005: “Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research” is released by the

National Academies. One month later, a white paper titled “Alternative Sources of Pluripotent Stem Cells” is released by the President’s Council on Bioethics.

December 21, 2006:  “Guidelines for the Conduct of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research” is released by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).

2007: New guidelines are released by the National Academies as President Bush encourages researchers to work with alternate sources such as pluripotent stem cells, instead of embryonic. Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and Dr. James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison publishes papers on their own discovery of pluripotent stem cells.

March 9, 2009: An executive order from President Obama lifts the federal opposition on embryonic stem cell research made by George W. Bush.

January 25, 2012: Procedures to ease blindness with stem cells was performed by renowned stem cell scientist, Dr. Robert Lanza from Massachusetts. Patients say that vision improved few months after they received the implants made from human embryonic stem cells.

December 28, 2012: Cells found in urine were converted into pluripotent stem cells by Chinese scientists of the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health. The converted cells have the ability to be used to develop neurons and brain cells.

(12, 13)

 

The History of Stem Cell Research

The Start of Stem Cell Research
February 1, 1961: Toronto biophysicist, Dr. James Till, and hematologist, Ernest McCulloch from Ontario Cancer Institute proves the existence of stem cells in an accidental publishing in “Radiation Research”.
July 12, 1974: The 93rd Congress bans all federally funded fetal tissue research until the National Research Act established the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research to provide guidelines for it.
1975: Ethics Advisory Board is established by guidelines for fetal and fetal tissue research obtained from abortions, but is later disbanded by President Ronald Reagan.
1988: U.S. Federal Panel approves funding of embryo research but is  later vetoed by President George H.W. Bush.
1994:  Thousands of letters urges President Bill Clinton to reverse his executive order about the federal funding of embryonic research. He agrees and the funding is stopped.
1995: The Dickey-Wicker Amendment is established by Congress, banning all federal funding for embryonic researching.
1998: James Thomson, researcher and scientist at the University of Wisconsin, creates the first human embryonic stem cells. The discovery results in ethical debate due to the fact that his team got research material from the destruction of human embryos.

(12, 13)

In June 2012, Susan Solomon from TED talks about stem cell research and how it can benefit the medical world (2)

Left to right: Dr. James Till and Dr. Ernest McCulloch (5)

Dr. James Alexander Thomson (6)

In August 2001, President George W. Bush prohibits federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (7)

On March 9, 2009, President Barack Obama signs an executive order that reverses Bush's ban for federal funding of stem cell research (3)

bottom of page