By Karen H. Rothenberg, J.D., M.P.A. & Michael R. Ulrich

Restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research under President Bush stimulated a number of states and the private sector to fund stem cell research, resulting in a patchwork of varying guidelines throughout the country. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) guidelines were expected to change all of this. With President Obama following through on his assurance to remove restrictions, stem cell researchers assumed they would find clarity when the new NIH Guidelines on Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research were promulgated to outline an ethical framework to determine which research was eligible for federal funding. As part of this process, the NIH examined the guidelines developed by the National Academies of Science (NAS) and the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), which had been guiding many states and private institutions funding stem cell research.