Endocrine Insider
December 10, 2009

(See full issue)

The National Institutes of Health recently approved 13 human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines for use in NIH-funded research. The cell lines, developed by Children’s Hospital of Boston (which submitted 11 of the 13 lines) and Rockefeller University, are the first to be approved under the NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research, adopted in July 2009 in response to President Obama’s Executive Order 13505. 

The new guidelines establish policy and procedures under which NIH will fund human stem cell research and ensure that NIH-funded research in this area is ethically responsible, scientifically worthy and conducted in accordance with applicable law. An additional 96 lines have been submitted to NIH for either internal administrative review or consideration by the external Working Group for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Eligibility Review and the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director.

Details on the newly approved cell lines and instructions for their use are available on the NIH registry.