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Till & McCulloch establish the foundation for stem cell science.
Toronto scientists Drs. James Till, a biophysicist, and Ernest McCulloch, a haematologist, published accidental findings in “Radiation Research” that proved the existence of stem cells; cells that can self-renew repeatedly for various uses. -
Congress bans fetal tissue research
The 93rd Congress puts a ban on nearly all federally funded fetal tissue research until the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research publishes a guideline for the uses of fetal tissue. -
James Thomson Isolates Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Thomson isolates human embryonic stem cells and shows their potential to rejuvenate and to specialize into tissues. This sparked the ethical debate because his team got the stem cells but killed the embryos in the process. -
NIH Guidelines for Research Go Into Effect
human embryonic stem cells must be derived with private funds from frozen embryos from fertility clinics; they must have been created for fertility treatment purposes -
August 2001: President Bush Prohibits Federal Funding of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
President Bush prohibits the federal funding of any research using stem cell lines derived after August 9, 2001, but his policy does not affect research in the private sector or research conducted with state funding. -
National Academies Releases “Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research”
In the news release of the guidelines, committee co-chair Richard O. Hynes says, “A standard set of requirements for deriving, storing, distributing, and using embryonic stem cell lines – one to which the entire U.S. scientific community adheres- is the best way for this research to move forward.” -
March 9, 2009: President Obama Reverses George W. Bush’s 2001 Executive Orde
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Advanced Cell Technology Wins FDA Approval To Test Stem Cell Therapy For Degenerative Eye Disease
Regenerative medicine company Advanced Cell Technology received federal approval from the US FDA to start a multi-centre clinical trial that tested human embryonic stem cell treatment on patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy, which causes blindness. -
Blindness symptoms made less severe by historic stem cell treatment
Two people with eye degeneration both say their vision improved in the four months after they received implants of retinal pigment epithelial cells made from hESCs (human embryonic stem cells). -
Human Liver Created from Stem Cells
Scientists in Japan said they had grown human liver tissue from stem cells in a first that holds promise for fixing the huge shortage of donor organs.