New Stem Cell Lines Approved

New embryonic stem cell lines have been approved for use in federally-funded research in the US. Of these 13 new lines, 11 were made by Harvard Stem Cell Institute's George Daley and the other two by Rockefeller University's Ali Brivanlou. Both researchers used private funds for that work. "I am happy to say that we now have human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for use by our research community under our new stem cell policy," says Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, according to Agence France Presse. According to the Washington Post, 20 more lines may be approved for use as early as Friday and another 76 are also under consideration. "This is the first down payment on what is going to be a much longer list that will empower the scientific community to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research," Collins adds in the Post.