Monday, President Obama signed an executive order intended to foster stem-cell research, reversing the policies of the previous administration that limited research to existing stem-cell lines. Further Congressional action will be necessary to remove all federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, and recent scientific developments have made research on other types of stem cells more productive. Nevertheless, many commentators see this development as an indicator of a sea-change in scientific-political attitudes in the Executive branch, and expect that U.S. embryonic stem cell research is about to expand significantly.
One area of significant speculation seems to be the effect changes in federal funding policies will have on individual states. As Hilary Libka discussed in a recent MTTLR Blog post, some states have developed their own funding regimes for human embryonic stem cell research. Commentators seem to think that states with existing infrastructure may be particularly well-situated to put federal funds to good use. Although Michigan is not one of the states with an independent funding regime, Michigan voters relaxed state restrictions on embryonic stem cell research via a Constitutional referendum in November, and the state may be posed to take a leadership role in future developments. Researchers at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University announced Monday that they have research projects ready to get under way.