Click here to read Stem Cells 101, an overview of stem cell research

South Korea on Wednesday conditionally lifted a ban on stem cell research using human eggs, three years after outlawing the practice because a scientist was found to have faked his work. (PhysOrg)

The federal government has opened the door for human embryonic stem cell research, and it’s now figuring out which ethical strings to attach. But California researchers are worried that the expected limits could still cause them aggravation if they don’t jibe with standards set out by their own funding body, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Issues involving both consent and the source of the embryos are under discussion. (ScienceInsider)

As the Obama administration prepares to greatly expand the government’s investments in embryonic stem cell research, the next big biomedical research debate in Congress is shaping up: whether to allow government funding of experiments using cloned human embryos. (CQ Politics)

Government legal and ethical experts are to discuss whether families can ‘bank’ embryos not just for procreation but also for use by doctors to create personalised treatments for parents and their children. (Daily Mail)

Republican legislators are poised today to attempt an override of the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill that would have made it a crime for a scientist to perform any form of embryonic stem cell research.

Gov. Brad Henry waited until after the House adjourned about 11 p.m. Wednesday to veto House Bill 1326. He waited out legislators Wednesday night to give him and bill opponents such as business leaders and health care providers more time to persuade lawmakers to sustain his veto. Wednesday was the deadline for the governor to veto the bill. (The Oklahoman) 

If you wonder why an anti-abortion Republican would oppose legislative limits on embryonic stem cell research, meet state Rep. Rick Hardcastle.

Yes, he’s a GOP lawmaker (from Vernon). Yes, he’s against abortion. But as a man with multiple sclerosis, and a father whose daughter died of cancer six years ago, he doesn’t want to see lawmakers put limits on potentially life-saving research. (Houston Chronicle)

Rarely will physicians use the word “miraculous” when discussing patient recoveries. But that’s the very phrase orthopaedic physicians and scientists are using in upstate New York to describe their emerging stem cell research that could have a profound impact on the treatment of bone injuries. Results from preliminary work being released today, patients confined to wheelchairs were able to walk or live independently again because their broken bones finally healed. (News-Medical)

Researchers have developed a new way to make embryonic-like stem cells by soaking them in genetically engineered proteins, a new step toward using ordinary cells to treat disease. (Reuters)

US stem-cell researchers are applauding draft guidelines released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) last week to govern federally funded research on human embryonic stem-cell lines. Some, however, say the provisional rules are still too restrictive because they would exclude lines derived from embryos created for research purposes. [Premium (Nature News)]

Opponents of embryo research have used an investment last week by former vice president Al Gore, as a new pretext to attack research on embryonic stem cells (ESCs). (New Scientist)

When President Barack Obama eased limits on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away. (Associated Press)

The treatment involves replacing a layer of degenerated cells with new ones created from embryonic stem cells. It was pioneered by scientists and surgeons from the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospital in Britain. (The Australian)

The Obama administration today is announcing guidelines for government-sponsored embryonic stem cell research but the draft regulations would limit federal funding of work on human embryos donated at fertility clinics. (Washington Post)

Consultant neurologist Prof Orla Hardiman said people with incurable diseases were spending large sums of money on stem-cell treatments overseas when there was no evidence they would deliver any benefit. (The Irish Times)

Neurobiologist Maureen L. Condic investigates 11 common arguments in favor of embryonic stem-cell research, and explains why science may not need the controversial technique, after all. (The Daily Beast)

The Phase I safety trial, funded with a pilot grant from The National Institutes of Health and support from the Notsew Orm Sands Foundation, will enroll nine more patients who have suffered a stroke and can be treated with the stem cell procedure within 24 to 72 hours of initial symptoms. (ScienceDaily)

A stem-cell repair technique that has already been used to fix hundreds of injured race horses is to be tested for the first time in people with damaged Achilles tendons. (Reuters)

Though the world’s attention has focused on Iran’s advancing nuclear program, Iranian scientists have moved to the forefront in embryonic stem cell research, according to a recent joint study by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Washington Times)

Prospective parents face an array of medical decisions before their baby is born: Which pediatric practice to use? To circumcise, or not? What about prenatal testing to screen for possible genetic disorders? (Washington Post)

People with type 1 diabetes who got stem cell transplants were able to go as long as four years without needing insulin treatments, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. (Reuters

A team of UCSF researchers has for the first time used tiny molecules called microRNAs to help turn adult mouse cells back to their embryonic state. These reprogrammed cells are pluripotent, meaning that, like embryonic stem cells, they have the capacity to become any cell type in the body. (PhysOrg)