Funding For Stem Cell Research Research Articles

Stem Cell Therapy, the Market, the Opportunities and the Threat.

Stem cell therapy is going to become the most widely used type of therapy in regenerative medicine. The stem cell therapy market has grown at an exponential rate in recent years. The purpose of the present paper is to review the stem cell market and the factors affecting it. The methods used included a literature review across reputable databases, and identifying articles and trusted financial reports related to the stem cell therapy market. Results show that the stem cell market growth rate is increasing, so that, the global stem cell market size was valued at US$297 million in 2022 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.8% from 2022 to 2027, driven by factors such as clinical trials with promising results, increasing funding for stem cell research, growing number of technologies and facilities for cell therapy, and rising demand for regenerative medicine. However, the market also faces some challenges such as ethical concerns, regulatory hurdles, and the high cost of stem cell therapies and products. To enhance the development of the market further, policymakers and regulatory bodies must simplify the complicated process of obtaining regulatory approvals for clinical use. However, there are growing concerns about the increasing number of unapproved treatments using stem cells.

New York state ends stem cell research funding

New York state ends stem cell research funding

Balancing Scientific Advice with Political Realities during the Campaign to Pass California's Ballot Proposition 14.

Balancing Scientific Advice with Political Realities during the Campaign to Pass California's Ballot Proposition 14.

Evolving Visions for Global Stem Cell Institutes

Evolving Visions for Global Stem Cell Institutes

Between Fraud and Hope: Stem Cell Research in Korea after the Hwang Affair

This study analyzed the influence of the Hwang scandal on the stem cell research community and research governance systems in South Korea. In contrast to the claims of some critics that the fraud scandal might raise doubts about Korean stem cell science, the impact of the Hwang scandal on publications by Korean stem cell researchers in international scientific journals proved limited, with only a temporary halt in research and publications. On the one hand, Korea’s scientific community has moved toward the ethical turn through which the Korean government tightened its research-ethics standards and regulations. On the other hand, the government and scientific community remain hopeful about stem cell research. Consequently, the politics of hope have led to the quick recovery of Korean stem cell science from the potential damage caused by the Hwang scandal. The scandal accelerated the South Korean government’s efforts toward research ethics reform: it mandated universities and research institutes to create and strengthen institutional review boards and other research-integrity committees. In addition, the Korean government, maintaining its optimism about the economic value of stem cell science, continued to fund stem cell research. Despite the seemingly prompt recovery from the scandal, however, stem cell research governance systems in Korea face a serious new challenge: the ethical and safety concerns associated with the rapid commercialization of stem cell science. Therefore, this article views the changes in the scientific community as a process of conflict and negotiation between the accountability crisis in the Korean scientific community and the politics of hope in science.

Brokers and Entrepreneurs in Human Stem Cell Governance Networks in the United States

AbstractThe policy debate over embryonic stem cell (ESC) research in the United States mainly focuses on the extent to which the government ought to provide resources for that research. This article addresses the strategic use of network positions to mobilize an effective coordination system for lifting the moratorium on funding of ESC under the Obama administration since March 2009. By identifying patterns of interactions between members in a network of embedded ties, we can explore the major actors who play the role of brokers or entrepreneurs in stem cell research funding policy under the Obama administration. For that, this article utilizes social network analysis and the G&F brokerage roles framework to identify key brokers in facilitating coordination among various members engaged in funding human stem cell research in the governance network.

Stem cell research in Brazil: the production of a new field of science.

Based on a review of the literature published in the early twenty-first century by Brazilian researchers, the article offers an overview of stem cell research in Brazil. Three central topics were detected in these papers: (1) the funding of stem cell research in Brazil; (2) preclinical and clinical trials in Brazil; and (3) social anthropological analysis focused on ethical and legal matters. Our review identifies controversial questions in the construction of this scientific field, especially issues involving the media as a disseminator of values and of certain social representations, where new kinds of hope figure large. Within this climate of uncertainty, we find patients and their families energized by the promises of the "medicine of the future."

Funding of Stem Cell Research and Patents in the European Union

There is a growing body of scholarship on the legislative and judicial moral exclusions on stem cell patents in the European Union (EU) but little on the EU’s policy on patents arising from stem cell research projects funded by the European Union. The aim of this chapter is to initiate such an enquiry to determine whether the European Union policy strikes the right balance between the protection of IP and the public interest in exploitation and dissemination of the outputs of publicly funded research. The first part parts examines the legacy of the Brustle ruling in the current legal challenges to the funding of stem cell research. The second calls for greater attention to the interface between EU policy on the funding of scientific research and IP policy in the European Union. It provides an overview of the aims of the European Union’s funding programmes and their extension from applied technology, in the early years of the Union, to basic science and the ‘knowledge economy’ in the last decade. The third part analyses the key elements of the European Union’s IP policy at the close of the last Framework Programme and argues that the priority granted to patent protection is liable to frustrate the pursuit of scientific research and stem cell science as a cooperative venture for the benefit of the public through the triple lock of prioritizing patent protection over publication in scholarly journals, encouraging withholding of patent applications and minimal reporting requirements. The last part illustrates the need for increased public scrutiny and transparency on patents generated under EU funded projects to facilitate public access to the benefits of EU funded research.

Unproven stem cell-based interventions and achieving a compromise policy among the multiple stakeholders.

BackgroundIn 2004, patient advocate groups were major players in helping pass and implement significant public policy and funding initiatives in stem cells and regenerative medicine. In the following years, advocates were also actively engaged in Washington DC, encouraging policy makers to broaden embryonic stem cell research funding, which was ultimately passed after President Barack Obama came into office. Many advocates did this because they were told stem cell research would lead to cures. After waiting more than 10 years, many of these same patients are now approaching clinics around the world offering experimental stem cell-based interventions instead of waiting for scientists in the US to complete clinical trials. How did the same groups who were once (and often still are) the strongest supporters of stem cell research become stem cell tourists? And how can scientists, clinicians, and regulators work to bring stem cell patients back home to the US and into the clinical trial process?DiscussionIn this paper, we argue that the continued marketing and use of experimental stem cell-based interventions is problematic and unsustainable. Central problems include the lack of patient protection, US liability standards, regulation of clinical sites, and clinician licensing. These interventions have insufficient evidence of safety and efficacy; patients may be wasting money and time, and they may be forgoing other opportunities for an intervention that has not been shown to be safe and effective. Current practices do not contribute to scientific progress because the data from the procedures are unsuitable for follow-up research to measure outcomes. In addition, there is no assurance for patients that they are receiving the interventions promised or of what dosage they are receiving. Furthermore, there is inconsistent or non-existent follow-up care. Public policy should be developed to correct the current situation.ConclusionThe current landscape of stem cell tourism should prompt a re-evaluation of current approaches to study cell-based interventions with respect to the design, initiation, and conduct of US clinical trials. Stakeholders, including scientists, clinicians, regulators and patient advocates, need to work together to find a compromise to keep patients in the US and within the clinical trial process. Using HIV/AIDS and breast cancer advocate cases as examples, we identify key priorities and goals for this policy effort.

Updating the Argument for Permitting and Federally Funding Stem Cell Research

Stem cell technology has advanced in recent years, raising the question of whether we might be able to bypass those concerns which traditionally have troubled opponents of stem cell research the most. In this light, we examine the major new techniques for the creation of human stem cell lines (HSCs), including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in order to assess whether either of these two alternatives are practically or ethically more advantageous than a reliance on the use of embryos procured in excess from in vitro fertilization (IVF). We conclude that these more recent techniques provide neither functionally comparable alternatives nor a straightforward escape from the moral difficulties involved in embryonic destruction. We then address anew the question of permissibility of stem cell research in comparison with two other biomedical ethical issues, namely, abortion and euthanasia. Finally, availing ourselves of the doctrine of double effect, we advocate for a permissive policy regarding the use of embryos in stem cell research and additionally provide fresh grounds for allocating federal funds for this research within a pluralistic society.

Money, Money, Money? Politico-Moral Discourses of Stem Cell Research in a Grant Allocation Process

Concerns have been raised about the marketization of science through the prevailing funding regime. However, the present article will discuss how it comes that the potentially marketable stem cell science is not more commercialized than what is currently the case. We approach this question by analysing discursive pluralism in defining the value of stem cells within a grant allocation process. More specifically, we focus on how the commercial imperative is challenged by other cherished values surrounding stem cell research. The case study used to discuss this is the Swedish Government’s funding of stem cell research within so-called strategic research programmes. The analysis focuses on the co-existence of what we refer to as entrepreneurial, translational and basic research politico-moral discourses. How the co-existence of politico-moral discourses is possible, despite potential tensions, is investigated by drawing on the theoretical framework of bio-objectification. Specifically, we highlight how the relationship between various bio-identities and values was reorganized along the research grant allocation trajectory. We argue that there are obvious signs of temporally specific discursive shifts away from the commercial imperative in the grant allocation process. This suggests the need to study located processes, in order to understand the work of politico-moral discourses in the grant allocation process. This work contributes to an understanding of the uneven and varied impact of neoliberal policies on biomedicine.

Around the World

In science news around the world, a new biomedical "golden triangle" dubbed MedCity launches in London, NASA suspends scientific collaborations with Russia, pro-life groups in Europe launch a new attack against E.U. funding for stem cell research, and more.

Stem cell research funding policies and dynamic innovation: a survey of open access and commercialization requirements.

This article compares and contrasts the pressures of both open access data sharing and commercialization policies in the context of publicly funded embryonic stem cell research (SCR). First, normative guidelines of international SCR organizations were examined. We then examined SCR funding guidelines and the project evaluation criteria of major funding organizations in the EU, the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, Canada and the United States. Our survey of policies revealed subtle pressures to commercialize research that include: increased funding availability for commercialization opportunities, assistance for obtaining intellectual property rights (IPRs) and legislation mandating commercialization. In lieu of open access models, funders are increasingly opting for limited sharing models or “protected commons” models that make the research available to researchers within the same region or those receiving the same funding. Meanwhile, there still is need for funding agencies to clarify and standardize terms such as “non-profit organizations” and “for-profit research,” as more universities are pursuing for-profit or commercial opportunities.

Voting for stem cells: How local conditions tempered moral opposition to Proposition 71

A major theme in the debate on Proposition 71, the 2004 California ballot initiative in which voters approved US$3 billion in state funding for stem cell research, was the tension between values-based opposition to the use of embryos in medical research and a focus on the potential health benefits of stem cell therapies. Using a dataset that combines individual-level voting intention data from three Field Poll pre-election surveys and county-level data, the present study finds that moral opposition to Proposition 71 decreased as the local prevalence of chronic diseases and the proportion of elderly residents in respondents’ counties increased. The paper argues that this finding reflects an increase in the salience of the possible benefits of stem cell research that was driven by local conditions, and concludes with a discussion of the implications of this dynamic for the democratic governance of regenerative medicine in the context of an aging society.

Research: High court allows federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research

Federally funded human embryonic stem cell research can move ahead unimpeded because of a Supreme Court decision announced last week. The Court declined to hear a case, which has dragged on for more than three years, challenging the legality of such stem cell research funding. The original lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health was filed in 2009 by two scientists who work with adult stem cells. They claimed that the agency’s policy for funding human embryonic stem cell research violates the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, an obscure law that prohibits federal funding of any research that destroys human embryos. Human embryos are destroyed in order to derive such stem cells. In 2010, the case temporarily halted government-funded research on human embryonic stem cells. A federal appeals court lifted the injunction, however, and subsequently ruled that conducting research on these cells is not the same as deriving them. The plaintiffs appealed to ...

Global Update: Brazil

Research using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) was debated for 4 years in the Brazilian Supreme Court before being legally approved in 2008. Before that, only research with adult stem cells was supported by federal funding. Even with the ban on hESC research until 2008 the country made significant advances in stem cell research in the last decade. Right after legislation permitted, the first Brazilian hESC line was derived, still in 2008. Achievements in the field were supported by policies directed to provide federal funding for stem cell research by the Ministry of Health. Investments since 2005 have mounted to over US$50 million, financing 110 projects, ranging from basic to clinical research.

Where the Stem Cell Research Funding Is — State or Federal? Public or Private?

Where the Stem Cell Research Funding Is — State or Federal? Public or Private?

Institutional Profile: Stem Cell Training at Pasadena City College: Providing Pathways to Careers in Stem Cell Research

The Biological Technology Program at Pasadena City College (PCC) offers specialized stem cell training that provides pathways for students to careers in stem cell research. Training in stem cell culture techniques was added to the biotechnology curriculum at PCC in 2005 in response to the anticipated need for skilled stem cell technicians after the passage of a statewide ballot measure funding stem cell research efforts in California. Students who receive stem cell training at PCC reflect California’s diverse workforce, including first-generation college students, high school students, individuals pursuing a second career, women re-entering the workforce, displaced workers and veterans. More than 50% of the students who join the Biotechnology Program for stem cell training have already earned their Bachelor’s degrees and are acquiring additional skills to secure employment or improve their applications for graduate and professional schools. The mission of the PCC Stem Cell Training Program includes: preparing students for careers in stem cell research, both in academia and in industry; working to ensure that students are competitive in applications for postgraduate programs; facilitating internships and advanced training opportunities in the stem cell field; and providing a well-trained workforce at various educational and technical levels to the local stem cell research community.

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine: Accelerating Stem Cell Therapies in California and Beyond

Among the most prolific funders of stem cell research today is the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). CIRM was established in 2004 by Proposition 71 to accelerate the development of new therapies for chronic disease and injury by funding stem cell research programs throughout the state of California. Its mission is to support and advance stem cell research and regenerative medicine under the highest ethical and medical standards for the discovery and development of cures, therapies, diagnostics and research technologies to relieve human suffering from chronic disease and injury. Renowned stem cell and in vitro fertilization expert Dr. Alan Trounson has been president of CIRM since 2008. He shares the organization’s goals and strategies as well as its successes.

Federal funding for stem cell research: 15 years of indecision

Federal funding for stem cell research: 15 years of indecision