Washington D.C., Apr 30, 2010 / 04:35 am
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that 13 additional human embryonic stem cell lines have been approved for federal funding and added to its Stem Cell Registry.
The total number of federally funded stem cell lines derived from killing human embryos is now at 64, with another 100 lines pending approval for federal funding.
Four of the new approved stem cell lines come from the WiCell Research Institute of Madison, Wisconsin. They had been approved for funding under the George W. Bush administration.
NIH Director Francis S. Collins said the action should provide “welcome reassurance” to researchers working on the older stem cell lines.