What does U.S. embryonic stem cell research look like today?
From August 2001 to March 2009, federal funding was only available for research using either adult stem cells or a small group of embryonic stem cells selected by the government. During that period, there were only 21 federally-approved stem cell lines, and 95% of federal funding went to adult stem cell projects. In March 2009, President Obama signed an executive order that removed that restriction, allowing scientists to apply for government funding to work with hundreds of new stem cell lines. The policy change removes the need for NIH-funded scientists to maintain duplicate labs with different equipment to separate work with NIH-approved stem cell lines and non-NIH-approved stem cell lines funded by other sources. The new policy does not allow for the creation of new human embryonic stem cell lines using federal funds. Scientists in California have been able to work with newly created stem cells lines through this period thanks to funding from a statewide ballot measure, Proposition
