As the world becomes increasingly aware of the benefits of stem cell technologies, countries in Asia and Oceania are embracing the technology; along with the United States which has loosened some of the restrictions in recent years. Here in California, ten years has passed since voters approved Proposition 71, which created the $3 billion state taxpayer-funded California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. In Europe, under general directives of the European Community (EC), individual member countries have the right to choose to use stem cells on the grounds of medical and health benefits.
We could be free of an infinitude of maladies both of body and mind, and even possible the infirmities of age, if we had sufficient knowledge of their causes, and of all the remedies with which nature has provided us.
Rene Descartes
As the world becomes increasingly aware of the benefits of stem cell technologies, countries in Asia and Oceania are embracing the technology; along with the United States which has loosened some of the restrictions in recent years. Here in California, ten years has passed since voters approved Proposition 71, which created the $3 billion state taxpayer-funded California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. In Europe, under general directives of the European Community (EC), individual member countries have the right to choose to use stem cells on the grounds of medical and health benefits.
The thawing environment for stem cell products partly reflects a realization that medical technology is ultimately limited in its ability to treat and care for patients but that, according to the United Nations General Assembly, human cloning must be prohibited in as much as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life. [1]. As a result, multinational organizations like The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) have developed a list of guidelines to assist the clinical application of stem cells. (http://www.isscr.org/home/publications/guide-clintrans).
In the USA, the National Academies and NIH also have specific guidelines for research involving stem cells and to address patients concerns (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_idZ11278; http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/ethics.asp) [2]. The end of ethics? Despite controversy about efficacy and safety, the adoption of a limited variety of embryonic stem cells has been remarkably widespread. Since research began over four decades ago, stem cells are being used and researched under flexible or permissive policies in thirty-five countries, according to the University of Minnesota (Fig. 1) [3]. Since the majority of research and cell production comes out of academic institutions in the developed world, this work is giving birth to new discoveries and product development with a wide stream of applications. Although stem cell technology has yet to reach commercialization to date, this process is beginning to develop a picture of how the applications of cell therapy will appear.Fig. 1 Worldwide map of stem cell research
Figure courtesy of University of Minnesota
Map Explanation- "Permissive" = various embryonic stem cell derivative techniques including somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also called research or therapeutic cloning. Countries in this category include Australia, Belgium, China, India, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and others. These countries represent a global population of more than 2.7 billion people.
- "Flexible" = fertility clinic donations only, excluding SCNT, and often under certain restrictions. "Research is permitted only on remaining embryos no longer needed for reproduction." Countries in this category include Brazil, Canada, France, Iran, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, Taiwan, the United States of America, and others. These countries represent a global population of more than 1 billion people.
- Restrictive = limited policy or no established policy. Restrictive policies range from outright prohibition of human embryo research to permitting research on imported embryonic stem cell lines and only to permit research on a limited number of previously established stem cell lines. Countries with a restrictive policy include: Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Poland.