A new study has shown that all of the stem cell lines that were in existence when President Bush announced his restrictive policy on stem cell research may be contaminated, rendering them essentially useless for human therapies.
Federal funds may be used to support research only on those cell lines that were in existence on August 9, 2001, the day Bush announced his policy. But now it appears that the utility of all of those lines is in serious question. That, combined with several states‘ decisions to support stem cell research with state money, makes it increasingly likely that the federal government will sink into irrelevance in this important area of research.
At least for the foreseeable future (i.e., the next four years), it appears that the states, not the federal government, are going to be the prime movers in this area. Private institutions in Massachusetts have already jumped into the fray, but the public sector has an important role to play as well. We therefore repeat our already-expressed exhortation to the Massachusetts legislature to make the necessary changes to state law so that Massachusetts at least does not discourage stem cell research.
