From the Washington Post:

NIH authorizes use of first human embryonic stem cells under new policy

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 2, 2009; 1:01 PM

The Obama administration on Wednesday approved the first human embryonic stem cells for experiments by federally funded scientists under a new policy designed to dramatically expand government support for one of the most promising but also most contentious fields of biomedical research.

The National Institutes of Health authorized 11 lines of cells produced by scientists at the Children’s Hospital in Boston and two lines created by researchers at the Rockefeller University in New York. All were obtained from embryos left over by couples seeking treatment for infertility.

“This is a real change in the landscape,” NIH Director Francis Collins said. “This is the first down payment on what is going to be a much longer list . . . that will empower the scientific community to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research.”

According to Johns Hopkins University Associate Professor of Neurology, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Dr. Douglas Kerr, author of multiple papers about embryonic stem cells and friend of FightSMA, “this is a significant event since it has really increased the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for researchers to study in understanding and ultimately treating human diseases.” He goes on to say, “It’s even more significant since the previously approved embryonic stem cell lines had a variety of problems including chromosomal abnormalities and culture conditions that would make them potentially unsafe in humans. These new ES lines don’t have those problems and this promises to advance research forward.”

To read the complete Washington Post article, click here.

To read the press release issued by NIH, click here.