[BBC] A technique which may eventually remove the need for matched bone marrow transplants has been used in humans for the first time.
It is hoped that “master cells” taken from umbilical cords could be used on any patient without rejection.  The latest advance, published in the journal Nature Medicine, greatly multiplies the tiny number of [...]

The Obama administration has begun approving new lines of human embryonic stem cells that are eligible for federally funded experiments, opening the way for millions of taxpayer dollars to be used to conduct research that was put off-limits by President George W. Bush.
Launching a dramatic expansion of government support for one of the most promising [...]

[USN] The University of Nebraska’s Board of Regents took a stand on a controversial issue on Friday, voting down a resolution that would have restricted the amount of stem cell research done in university facilities. The resolution, which needed five votes from the board and only got four, would have followed former President George W. [...]

[The Independent] All research involving the controversial creation of animal-human “hybrid” embryos has been refused funding in Britain and one of the three scientists licensed to carry out the work has left the UK for a job in Australia.
Every one of the three projects to develop embryonic stem cells from cloned embryos created by fusing [...]

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announces that NIH is now accepting requests for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines to be approved for use in NIH-funded research. The NIH Director is also pleased to announce the members of a new working group of the Advisory Committee to the Director [...]

[FRCBlog - excerpts only]  A U.S. company is backing out of the dogfight over cloning dogs, but leaving behind some interesting kibbles and bits about the cloning business. BioArts International, associated with disgraced cloner Woo-Suk Hwang, has announced it is ending its pet cloning business. BioArts had been in a patent dispute with South Korean [...]

Doctors at the school’s Center for Reproductive Health were found to have stolen eggs or embryos for years and given them to other women. Two doctors involved fled the country to avoid prosecution.
[LATimes] The UC Board of Regents has quietly settled a dozen lawsuits stemming from fertility fraud uncovered nearly 15 years ago — drawing [...]

[NYTimes] What might become the first drug derived from human stem cells failed in two late-stage clinical trials, dealing a setback to the drug’s developer and to the stem cell field.
The developer, Osiris Therapeutics, said Tuesday that its drug, Prochymal, was no more effective, over all, than a placebo in treating a life-threatening complication of [...]

[MIT Technology Review] A technique that allows the insulin-producing cells that are destroyed by type 1 diabetes to be re-created in the lab could help researchers understand how the disease develops and perhaps lead to more effective treatments for the condition.
A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes a [...]

[NatureNews] A long-sought loosening of Japan’s guidelines on human embryonic stem-cell research came into effect on 21 August. But some say the new rules are too little, too late for a struggling field that was once a source of national pride.
On the surface the previous guidelines, set in 2001, were permissive. They allowed scientists to [...]