Jordan’s Stem-Cell Law Can Guide The Middle East

In January, Jordan passed a law to control research and therapy using human stem cells derived from embryos — the first such regulation in the Arab and Islamic region. I was part of the group headed by Abdalla Awidi Abbadi, director of the Cell Therapy Center at the University of Jordan in Amman, that initiated the call for the law and later drafted it. Stem-cell research is a hot topic for Jordan because of the kingdom’s status as a health-care hub that draws patients from abroad. It is already one of few countries in the Middle East with regulations for protecting people who participate in clinical trials. This latest law should serve as an example to other countries in the region.

The new rules ban private companies from using human embryonic stem (ES) cells in research or therapies. Such work will be allowed only in government organizations or publicly funded academic institutions in Jordan, which have higher levels of transparency than private firms and are supervised by the health ministry and a specialized committee. The law also bans...