Policy environments may shape international progress of human embryonic stem 
cell research
Published: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 - 11:22 in Psychology & Sociology
Learn more about: complicated patchwork human embryonic stem cell research 
human embryonic stem cells international progress policy environments rna 
interference
Biomedical research may be substantially hampered by drawn out debates, 
conflicting legislation and restrictive policies. A new analysis, published 
by Cell Press in the June issue of Cell Stem Cell, investigates the 
influence of policy environments on the progression of research related to 
human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and offers new insight into the 
international development of this often ethically controversial field. 
"There is no doubt that hESC science is governed by a complicated patchwork 
of policies that vary both between and within countries," says study author 
Dr. Aaron D. Levine from the School of Public Policy at the Georgia 
Institute of Technology. To assess how this environment may have influenced 
the development of the field, Dr. Levine analyzed the relative performance 
of countries with respect to publication of peer-reviewed hESC-related 
research articles. Each paper in the evaluation was assigned a county of 
origin according to the address of the corresponding author of the study.
The analysis sought to identify significant "over-performers" and 
"under-performers" by systematically comparing each country's cumulative 
share of hESC-related research with its share of RNA interference 
(RNAi)-related research and its average cumulative share of research related 
to a broad range of biomedical research topics over the same time period. 
RNAi research was chosen as a comparison because the seminal "reference" 
paper was published around the same time as the first hESC paper. In 
addition, RNAi represents another clinically relevant, but far less 
controversial, research tool. Using this approach, Dr. Levine identified six 
countries that showed significant performance differences specific to the 
field of hESC research.
The results revealed a relatively clear relationship between policy 
environment and over-performance. The top four over-performing countries in 
hESC-related research have a history of permissive public policies that 
actively support derivation of new hESC lines from embryos leftover from 
fertility treatment and through the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer 
(SCNT). These countries complement their permissive policies toward the 
derivation of new hESC lines with government support for hESC research.
The relationship between under-performance and the policy environment is 
less clear, although the countries under-performing in hESC-related research 
lack the permissive policies seen in over-performing countries and offer 
policy environments characterized by ongoing debates and uncertainty. "The 
United States, though still the largest single producer of hESC-related 
research publications, is the largest under-performer by the metric used 
here," says Dr. Levine. This significant under-performance suggests that 
federal funding restrictions and confusing state laws may have had a 
negative impact on the amount of hESC research conducted in the United 
States.
"By systematically comparing country performance in hESC-related research 
with performance in another emerging, but less contentious, field and 
biomedical research more broadly, this analysis offers new insight into the 
international development of hESC science," says Dr. Levine.
Source: Cell Press

Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
[log in to unmask] 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn