Responsible Oversight of Human Stem Cell Research: The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's Medical and Ethical Standards

May 2007 | Volume 4 | Issue 5 | e114 Restrictions on United States federal funding have thrust state governments into a leadership role in funding and establishing standards for human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. In 2004, California voters approved $3 billion over 10 years for public funding of stem cell research through the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), making CIRM one of the world’s largest supporters of this pioneering new fi eld. CIRM recently adopted strong, comprehensive, and legally binding regulations for the human stem cell (hSC) research that it funds. Box 1 describes the historical background of CIRM regulations. Because other states and jurisdictions may also be developing standards for hESC research, consideration of the principles that guided the CIRM efforts and the innovative measures that it enacted may be useful to others.