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Timeline: A Brief History of Stem Cell Research
The stories of research involving human embryonic stem cells and the policy governing that work are intertwined and stretch back into the mid-1970s. Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, discussions began about how to conduct ethical research on human fetal tissue. Since that time, scientists have made great strides—most notable the isolation of human embryonic stem cells. Conservative and progressive presidents alike have curtailed federal funding for research for ethical reasons, but the position taken by President Bush both limited advances in regenerative medicine and ignored ethical guidelines. Case in point: a 2008 report determined that of the 21 viable lines eligible for funding under the Bush guidelines, only 16 were ethically derived. This timeline (after the jump) traces major events in this revolutionary field:
The Center for American Progress has a new plan—outlined in the report, “A Life Sciences Crucible“—for lifting the existing temporal restriction on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and establishing clear ethical guidelines for oversight of future research.
Comments on this article
Excellent…thanks for providing this resource.
January 18th, 2009 at 6:31 pmim doing a project thanks
March 19th, 2009 at 9:08 pmvery informative thankyou for the history
April 24th, 2009 at 9:19 pmThis is awesome! Exactly what I needed for my research! Thank you so much for making this easier for me, haha. You guys did such a terrific job! :)
April 29th, 2009 at 3:07 amYour timeline helped a lot! Thanks a billion!
May 12th, 2009 at 10:12 pmWhere is the documented progress of the cures and advancements of adult stem cell research, which has initiated the enthusiasm for stem cell research in general? Where is the historical discovery of each different line of stem cells, beyond the controversial embryonic stem cell research? Obviously your point of view is biased towards embryonic stem cell research because the points you make consistently use ’strong negatives’ regarding anything that upheld ethics against using human embryos. But you have focused on the research which uses embryos as raw material, when nearly all of the advancements, cures and promise have originated from ethical non-controversial adult stem cell research. I have found your site too biased to use as a historical resource on actual stem cell research progression.
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pmThanks for ur timeline it really help a lot…..thanks again:)
August 12th, 2009 at 6:50 pmgreat timeline….
August 12th, 2009 at 6:51 pmTis timeline is the most resourceful timeline i have found up to date…and im 97 years old!
September 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pmTimeline really helped out with my research paper.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:44 pmgreat stuff.. most helpful thing i’ve found.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 amwho should i cite when using this information?
i’d like to but an author’s name with the Web site’s title.
Fantastic resource for doing a research project!
December 10th, 2009 at 1:44 amliz, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was hoping to find something broader – not just the history of embryonic stem cell research. And vincent, why are you acting like a little kid? Prove that liz is incorrect before u start saying “shut up” and “you are stupid.”
December 15th, 2009 at 5:52 pmwell i’m not takin any sides but it does say brief history and even though it doesn’t carry out more info than you want it is somewhat helpful
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:52 am