BIOMEDICINE:
NIH Sets Rules for Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Gretchen Vogel
The National Institutes of Health moved closer to funding work using embryonic and fetal stem cells last week, issuing proposed guidelines that would allow publicly funded scientists to use these controversial materials. The carefully worded plan would rely on private labs to produce cell lines from embryos. But it would allow grantees to use the cells as long as they were derived according to strict requirements. The new rules are slightly more permissive for fetal stem cells, allowing publicly funded scientists both to derive and use them.