Researchers analysed thousands of laboratory-made plasmids and discovered that nearly half of them had defects, raising questions of experimental reproducibility.
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When stem cells burst on to the public scene 20 years ago, hand-wringing and excitement in equal measure ensued.
Scientists had known about these precursors to different types of cells since the 19th century, but it wasn’t until 1998, when researchers developed a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow them in the laboratory, that the excitement began to build. After discovering that these cells could transform into any kind of specialized cell in the body (a quality called “pluripotent”), the research team expressed hope stem cells could be used to aid in drug discovery or replace diseased or damaged tissue.
The outcry was swift. Though the cells were derived from the unused embryos created for in vitro fertilizationand were donated for research with informed consent, many anti-abortion groups believed using the cells was tantamount to taking human life. With this perspective in mind, President George W. Bush in 2001 banned federal funding for any studies using newly created stem cell lines.
But in 2004, Californians voted to circumvent these federal restrictions, passing Proposition 71, a bond measure that gave the state $3 billion to create a state stem cell research agency, now called the ...