All Quiet on the Stem Cell Front

All Quiet on the Stem Cell Front

The news this weekend is not research news, largely just more commentary on the Korean World Stem Cell Hub ethics issues. If you want to read more about this, here are some links:

The Washington Post: recap of the specific egg donor issue in Korea, Schatten’s withdrawal, and discussion of issue related to egg donation. The 2 page story is by Rick Weiss, who wrote about Schatten’s withdrawal last week. Weiss’s story is also run in the Seattle Times, which might be easier to access; sometimes the Post wants registration to read an article.

Otherwise, here’s what’s going on:

Case Western Reserve University will be the host of a new production facility for non-embryonic stem cells. The opening is tomorrow. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the center “is a new venture by the National Center for Regenerative Medicine, a partnership of Case, University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic.” It will allow the number of clinical trials at one time to increase from three to six. UPDATE: A press release on the opening is available from PR Newswire.

In the UK, a private stem cell bank with embryonic stem cell lines will open next month. The Telegraph reports that British researchers will be able to use it at no charge. The usual concerns about the quality of the stem cell lines and about embryonic stem cell research in general have been expressed by various parties.

The Human Cloning Foundation issued a press release supporting the Indian government’s recently announced initiatives for stem cell research and development. (The Human Cloning Foundation is, according to its website, a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning for infertile couples. I don’t know if it is legitimate or not and I’m not endorsing it. I’ll try to find out more.)