CGS-authored

Trying to fill a void for scientists, a committee of the National Academies on Tuesday issued voluntary guidelines for human embryonic stem cell studies, standards that may be incorporated into California's $3 billion stem cell research program.

The guidelines were welcomed enthusiastically by researchers in the field. The recommendations fell short, however, of some critics' hopes for more vigorous oversight.


The committee underscored the need for the informed consent of embryo donors, advised against paying donors, called for caution when introducing cells across species and identified a few types of experiments that should not be done.
"It's long overdue," said Renee Reijo Pera, co-director of the human embryonic stem cell program at the University of California, San Francisco. "The committee is really to be commended for taking on a very difficult area."

But Marcy Darnovsky, associate director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, said she wished the committee had pushed for mandatory regulations and a national oversight agency, such as exists in Britain, to enforce them.

"Voluntary regulations are inadequate for a number of reasons, including that...