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The use of stem cells has been developing over the last 50 years or so, and as more advances have been made, the government has become increasingly involved. There have been 2 main pieces of legislation in the US that have guided Stem Cell Research; The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 and also a Presidential Executive Order in 2007.
The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (HR 2520) was passed to help with the study and donation of umbilical cord blood. Umbilical cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells. These stem cells have been used to treat diseases like leukemia, and sickle cell anemia. The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 aims to create an increased amount of donations of umbilical cord blood, in an effort to increase the treatments available to patients in need. The other goal of this legislation is to obtain a wider variety of samples for transplantation, thereby increasing the number of possible donor/patient matches.
The Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 also set aside $79 million for the National Cord Blood Stem Cell Banking Program. This money will go toward building and maintaining facilities that store donated umbilical cord blood, collecting and transporting umbilical cord blood, and also disseminating information about umbilical cord blood collection and donation to expectant parents. Parents must decide before the 34th week of pregnancy whether or not they will collect and donate their newborn's umbilical cord blood and the parents need to know about all of their options.
While the government continues to have reservations about embryonic stem cell research they wanted to specifically address the availability of federal funds for research on stem cells such as those contained in umbilical cord blood. In support of research and development as well as to clarify the White House's position on stem cells George W Bush issued an executive order on June 20th 2007. The order authorized federal funds for research on alternative sources of pluripotent stem cells such as those in umbilical cord blood, but specified that this research must be conducted in ways that are "ethically responsible".
This government legislation concerning umbilical cord blood shows that stem cells do have a great deal of undiscovered potential, but also that there are paths that involve stem cells that create a great deal of controversy. It is important to continue to fund research while maintaining a dialogue about the costs and benefits of the resulting developments. In this way, we can be sure that we are able to help as many patients as possible, without hurting anyone in the process.
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