New York State ended funding for its Stem Cell Science Program (NYSTEM[1]), « one of the only state programs in the United States devoted exclusively to this scientific field “. This decision was endorsed by the 2022 budget signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, which will come into effect on 1is may. Thus, the financing of new projects is interrupted but the existing contracts will be honored. The State has indicated that it wants to concentrate its efforts on ” its core mission of providing direct services and achieving health outcomes for all New Yorkers ».
A program to work on the human embryo
The NYSTEM was created in 2007 under the aegis of David Paterson, former governor of the state, who then indicated that it was ” one of its main priorities “. At the time, President George W. Bush had limited the types of human embryonic stem cells that researchers funded by the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) could study. One of the reasons for the creation of the NYSTEM was to go beyond these limits. Barack Obama relaxed federal restrictions in 2009, then left unchanged by Donald Trump.
Congress having banned ” the use of federal research funds for experiments involving the creation, genetic modification or destruction of human embryos Since 1995, the NYSTEM has become one of the only sources to fund research of this type. In particular, the program funded the work of biologist Dieter Egli on mitochondrial transfer, namely “ the creation of human embryos from the genetic material of two mothers and one father ».
Originally, the New York State program provided for $ 600 million over 11 years. In California, it was $ 3 billion that fueled the government initiative created in 2004 via a bond loan. An initiative renewed in the fall of 2020 with an amount this time of $ 5.5 billion.
Editor’s note: After 15 years, New York State recognizes that research on human embryonic stem cells has not led to the therapies announced. Very few clinical trials have been conducted, and no therapy has been approved by the FDA. On the contrary, research on adult stem cells is flourishing, and therapies using induced pluripotent stem cells are being tested in clinical trials, notably in Japan (cf. iPS and Parkinson cells: towards a clinical trial in the United States?).
[1] New York State Stem Cell Science program
Source : Science, Sofia Moutinho (16/04/2021) – Photo : Pixabay
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