Federal Government has awarded the University of Washington $10 million for a five-year program intended to advance basic research on human embryonic stem cells.

The UW grant from the National Institutes of Health restricts the university to using the funding for research only on the 21 human embryonic stem cell lines approved for scientific study by President Bush in August 2001.

Stem cell research is one of the hottest arenas in biomedical research because of the potential for using stem cells to rebuild damaged tissue or grow new tissue. Embryonic stem cells, cells taken from an early stage in an organism’s development, are “pluripotent” — meaning they can grow into brain, heart, bone, blood or any other kind of cell.

Bush allowed the use of existing human embryonic stem cells but prohibited federally funded scientists from creating any new lines of stem cells. The president’s decision was an attempt to strike a balance between the needs of science and opposition by religious organizations that believe human life begins at conception.

“This (new) funding will enable us to dramatically expand the work begun in 2003 when we were first funded,” said Dr. Anthony Blau, who directs the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center collaborate with the UW scientists at the institute.

Most scientists believe that the federal limits imposed on human stem cell research will undermine the nation’s leadership in biomedical science.

The $10 million grant to the UW will fund a human embryonic stem cell laboratory and four research projects aimed at deciphering exactly how stem cells are able to renew and differentiate themselves.

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