Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committees
The National Academies called for the establishment of Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committees in its 2005 "Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research" to manage the ethical and legal concerns in human embryonic stem cell research. Because of the complexity and novelty of many of the issues involved in that research, the Guidelines committee believes that all research institutions engaged in human embryonic stem cell research should create and maintain these committees at the local level.
Consumer Watchdog v. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
One possible reason for this apparent lack of concern within the scientific community is that WARF has eased its licensing fees and restrictions to such an extent that most don’t find the overall cost of hESC lines exorbitantly high compared to other cell lines. Also, work on human embryonic stem cell research has been mitigated to a certain extent due to uncertainty about future federal funding and ongoing ethical concerns of such research. Moreover, with the recent discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, many scientists in the field have shifted towards iPS cells for precisely the reasons just stated. Finally, with all of the WARF patents due to expire in 2015, it seems unlikely that the resolution of this case, or any possible future litigation about the ‘913 patent in particular, will have a significant effect on hESC research.