The AP reports:
When President Barack Obama eased limits on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away.(...)The guidelines also demand that the woman or couple who donate the original embryo give proper informed consent. There are other options for such donors, such as donating the embryo to another infertile woman, and all must be explained. Also, the donation must be voluntary, without pressure from scientists.Those donation practices are standard today, but they weren't just a few years ago and Michigan's Morrison said some of the old Bush-approved lines may not meet the new standards. That poses a grave question, he said: Can work based on those older lines continue?Friday's guidelines also clearly forbid some types of research using human embryonic stem cells, such as mixing them with embryos from monkeys and other primates.
Read the full draft here.
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