Stem Cell Research Legislation

Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...............3
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………....4
What Are Stem Cells?...................................................................................................................4
U.S. Government Policy 1995 – Clinton………………………………………………………...5
Bush Policy 2001…………………………………………………………………………………6
Policy in Other Countries………………………………………………………………………..7
Current U.S. Policy………………………………………………………………………………8
Current Policy in Other Countries……………………………………………………………...8
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………..9
Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………………...11
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………….12

Abstract
This paper introduces stem cells. What they are and what they do. There are three categories of cells: totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. The paper covers legislation from the Clinton Administration, allowing funding with restriction, the Bush Administration, allowing funding with different restrictions and currently the Obama Administration, revoking Bush’s policy and broadening the research due to promising findings. The paper discusses what the past and present legislation is in other countries, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Italy, and Brazil. It covers current legislation for America and the rest of the world, and concludes with my thoughts on the future.

Stem Cell Research Legislation
Introduction
In the past scientist have discovered stem cells and wanted to study them closer. What are these stem cells and what do they do? Unfortunately, research for such a task is not cheap and the way to fund the research will need legislation to govern the ethical behavior of such research. Presidents of the past have limited the research regulations to help make researchers stay ethical. In the next few pages I will discuss what stem cells are and the legislation that governs the research for the United States as well as globally.
What are stem cells? The discovery of stem cells was made by Dr. Ernest McCulloch in 1960. In 1963, McCulloch along with another scientist, and their students, published a paper. McCulloch, discovered adult stem cells, and other scientists discovered stem cells for growth and replacement of cells in other organs as well (Allman, 2005).
There are three categories for stem cells that raise ethical issues for people the world over. First, totipotent stem cells are found only in early embryos. Each cell can form a complete organism, such as identical twins. Pluripotent stem cells exist in the undifferentiated inner cell mass of the blastocyst and can form any of the over 200 different cell types found in the body. Multipotent stem cells are derived from fetal tissue, cord blood, and adult stem cells. Although their ability to differentiate is more limited than pluripotent stem cells, they already have a record of success in cell-based therapies (AllAboutPopularIssues.org, 2012). Cell based therapies include: bone marrow transplant (BMT), skin replacement, brain cell transplantation (can’t say I’m a fan of this one), and Parkinson’s disease, although more research is needed, they have seen a significant number of successes (Pecorino, 2001). In order to explore how to treat these diseases, the destruction of human (according to many people) embryos has to happen. It’s a catch 22, in order to understand and save lives, lives have to be taken before they can really exist. U.S. Government Policy 1995 - Clinton Before President Bill Clinton assigned an ethics committee in 1995 to help him decide whether the federal government should support the research of stem cells, the United States, legal boundaries for the medical and scientific research traditionally had not been set by the federal government. Regulations usually were up to the specific state. However, the federal government does provide funding for research, given in the form of grants to different