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
Consumer Watchdog vs. Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is a case focusing on an appeal filed by Consumer Watchdog (CW) to invalidate a patent held by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) regarding the in vitro cell culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). This case is still currently ongoing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and is the latest in a series of attempts by CW to revoke one of the three patents held by WARF on hESCs.