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instructs Donna Shalala, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to remove the ban on embryonic research.1995:Congress bans federal funding for research on embryos, but leaves it unclear whether this ban applies to cells already derived from an embryo.November 1995:James A. Thomson and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin derive the first non-human embryonic stem cells, from rhesus monkeys, suggesting that embryonic stem cells could also be derived from humans.1996:According to an April 2013 report by EuroStemCell, in 1996 only 0.4 percent of scientific publications (4,402 publications) concerned stem cells. Both the raw number and the proportion grew rapidly over the followings years, so that in 2012, 12,193 publications about stem cell research were published (1 percent of all scientific publications).July 5, 1996:The first mammal clone, the sheep Dolly, is produced through the nuclear transfer of adult cells by the research team of Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell. Critics of cloning note that Wilmut and Campbell required 277 nuclear transfers in order to produce one live sheep.1998:M. J. Shamblott and colleagues announce successful derivation of pluripotent stem cells from cultured human primordial germ cells.November 5 and November 10, 1998:James A. Thomson at the University of Wisconsin, and John D. Gearhart at Johns Hopkins University report almost simultaneously that they have successfully isolated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Despite the therapeutic potential of hESCs, which can become any type of cell in the human body and thus offer hope for currently intractable conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease and spinal cord injury, the announcement is not without controversy due to the origins of the cells used in the research. Thomson’s team worked with cells from human embryos created in vitro (“in glass,” i.e., in the laboratory) while Gearhart’s team obtained their stem cells from human fetal tissue.2000:Martin F. Pera, Alan Trounson, Ariff Bongso, and colleagues working in Singapore and Australia derive human embryonic stem cells from donated blastocysts. These cells have normal karyotypes, can proliferate in vitro for extended periods, and cause teratomas in immune-deficient mice.August 2000:The National Institutes of Health (NIH) legal department advises that NIH may fund research on cells derived from blastocysts, but may not fund the derivation of the cells themselves (which may be performed by private companies).December 2000:Mouse experiments by Timothy Brazelton and colleagues at Stanford University discover that HSCs can transform themselves to neuronal cells, demonstrating a plasticity (ability to become other types of cells than blood cells) which could have important therapeutic implications. This research has been challenged on several grounds but research continues because of the ready availability of HSCs (every person could serve as their own donor, making hESCs unnecessary).2001:In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology issues Human Embryonic Stem Cell Guidelines. Japan also passes a law regulating human cloning techniques.2001:In Great Britain, Parliament amends the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act in order to allow some research on human embryos. The UK Stem Cell Bank is founded the following year, and in 2005, the UK Stem Cell Initiative is created to encourage both private and public funding of stem cell research.June 20, 2001:President George W. Bush vetoes, for the second time, a measure which would have lifted restrictions on hESC studies. This decision places him in opposition to most American voters and many members of the Republican party. In response to the Bush veto, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pledged to support federal funding for hESC studies if elected.July 2001:The Jones Institute, a private infertility clinic in Norfolk, Virginia, announces that it has created embryos from donated gametes (reproductive cells).August 9, 2001:President George W. Bush, in a speech on prime-time national television, announces federal research funding will be available for the first time for hESC research, but that such research would be limited to the estimated 60 pre-existing stem cell lines.November 2001:NIH invites proposals for stem cell research and releases a list of 74 acceptable stem cell lines; many of the lines are not suitable for human trials because they have been grown in mouse media.November 25, 2001:Advanced Cell Technology, a private company in Worcester, Massachusetts, announces that it has cloned human embryos from adult cells, creating cells which are a perfect genetic match for the donor.2002:The United Kingdom announces that stem cell research is a scientific priority and allocates an additional 40 million pounds to support stem cell research.January 2003:Nine funding agencies form the International Stem Cell Forum (ISCF) to encourage international collaboration and promote increased funding for stem cell research; as of January 2004, 14 agencies from 13 countries have joined the ISCF.2004:Annual report of the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry reports that over 27,000 patients annually are treated by blood stem cell transplantation, for various cancers, hereditary diseases, and bone marrow failure.March 2004:Hwang Woo-Suk and colleagues at Seoul National University announce in the prestigious journal Science that they successfully cloned patent-specific stem cells using somatic nuclear transfer. Because the embryos were cloned in order to produce stem cells, rather than for reproduction, this reported success reopens the debate about therapeutic cloning (cloning cells for the purpose of treating human disease). Hwang’s previous research had been in genetically-modified livestock, and he claimed to have successfully cloned two cows in 1999, although he provided no scientific data to back up this claim.June 25, 2004:New Jersey becomes the first state to fund stem cell research, as legislators create the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey and allocate it $9.5 million in state funding.Fall 2004:Prompted by the use of human embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF), the Connecticut Law Review publishes a forum including contributions by Ann Kiessling, Julien I. Sirois, Keith E. Latham, and Christine Sapienza that attempts to clarify terminology regarding embryos as well as the ethical and moral issues relating to research using them.November 2, 2004:Partly as a response to federal research funding restrictions, California becomes the second state to allocate funding for stem cell research, as voters approve Proposition 71. This bill creates the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which is allocated $3 billion in taxpayer funding over 10 years.January 1, 2005:Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell announces that she will recommend that the state budget include a special fund to support stem cell research in Connecticut. The state budget, passed in June, includes $100 million to support stem cell research over 10 years.May 23, 2005:The Starr Foundation announces awards of $50 million to support stem cell research at Weil Medical College of Cornell University, Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, all in New York City.May 31, 2005:The State of Connecticut Stem Cell Advisory Committee allocates $19.78 million in stem cell research funds to researchers from Yale, Wesleyan, and the University of Connecticut. These are the first grants from Connecticut’s Stem Cell Research Fund, which was created in 2005 and is charged with allocating approximately $100 million to support stem cell research by the year 2015.June 2005:Hwang Woo-Suk and colleagues publish an article in Science claiming that they have created 11 human embryos from somatic cells from different donors. He claims to have developed a more efficient process which uses fewer eggs to create more hESCs.July 13, 2005:Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich issues an executive order which creates the Illinois Regenerative Institute for Stem Cell Research, which will award $10 million in state funds to support stem cell research. This makes Illinois the fourth state, and the first midwestern state, to allocate public funds to stem cell research.August 18, 2005:Colin McGuckin, Nico Forraz and colleagues at Kingston University (UK) announce discovery of cord-blood-derived embryonic-like stem cells (CBEs, which appear to be more versatile than adult stem cells (found in bone marrow) although less versatile than hESCs. This discovery could skirt ethical objections to hESC research with cells derived from embryos, because umbilical cord blood can be acquired without destruction of human life.September 19, 2005:Brian Cummings, Aileen Anderson, and Colleagues at the University of California-Irvine announce that they successfully used adult neural stem cells to repair spinal cord damage in mice. The mice receiving neural stem cells showed improvement in coordination and walking ability, suggesting the research may lead to therapies to aid humans with spinal cord injuries.September 21, 2005:Floridians for Stem Cell Research and Cures, Inc., an advocacy group for stem cell research, propose a ballot initiative requiring the state of Florida to spend $200 million in state funds over the next 10 years in support of stem cell research.
