Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Oceanside Firm Disappointed by NIH hESC Proposal

A California stem cell company has filed a strong critique of the NIH's proposed rules for human embryonic stem cell research.

International Stem Cell Corp. of Oceanside Tuesday said it was “surprised and disappointed” by the draft guidelines.

The company said the government is proposing to fund research that involves the destruction of human embryos while barring funding for research that uses cells from unfertilized eggs (parthenogenetic stem cells). International Stem Cell uses unfertilized eggs.

The firm said in a news release that use of such cells has been approved by CIRM and three independent embryonic stem cell research oversight committees in the United States.

International Stem Cell also said the proposed NIH rules will limit opportunities for U.S. researchers, potentially lead to lost jobs and researcher flight to other countries and create a de-facto monopoly for two organizations that control most of the patents for current embryonic stem cells.

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