Eight years after the Bush administration’s ban on federal funding for new stem cell research, stem cell laboratories may finally be getting the lifeline they have been waiting for.

Throughout his campaign, President Barack Obama promised to change this federal stem cell policy. On February 5, Obama issued a guarantee to reporters that he would “sign an executive order for stem cells” to restore federal funding. A week and a half later, on February 15, Obama advisor David Axelrod confirmed this promise on Fox News.

Stem cells have the unique ability to develop into any type of cell in the body — a property that makes them attractive for a variety of medical applications — but where this ability comes from remains unclear.

Bush’s ban limited federal funding to existing human stem cell lines. Because each line has specific characteristics unique to that line, having more lines gives scientists a more complete picture of how stem cells function.

Prof. Andrea Quaroni, biomedical sciences, said that the change in policy would cause more labs to start working with human stem cells, rather than with the animal stem cells that are currently used to model human conditions.

“I would be very surprised if that was not the case. A lot of work can be done in those directions,” he said.

While stem cell research was far from stagnant during Bush’s years in office, the ban forced researchers to either find private funding or work only with the 60 human stem cell lines established at the time.

These human stem cell lines were not enough, however, and “funding remained an issue, even with established human cell lines,” Quaroni said.

In his 2001 speech announcing the funding limitation, President Bush cited moral and religious reservations with the research. “Embryonic stem cell research is at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards,” he said. Bush instead promoted the use of adult stem cells that didn’t involve the use of human embryos.

Two separate 2007 studies — one at Kyoto University and the other at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — were able to develop human stem cells from adult somatic (body) cells using a cocktail of proteins known to be present at high levels in stem cells. Scientists then differentiated these reprogrammed cells into specific cell types, including neural, skin and blood cells. In other words, these scientists were able to use an ordinary human cell to create a new stem cell line.

Since the cells can be derived from any adult cell, a patient’s cells could one day be used to generate his or her own new organs. This could reduce the need for organ donor waiting lists and limit the possibility of the recipient’s body rejecting the new organ. However, this method for developing organs has yet to be completely worked out.

Twenty-eight Cornell professors and researchers participate in the Cornell Stem Cell Program (SCP), which, according to their website, promotes interactions between more than 20 Cornell laboratories, organizes seminars and an Annual Stem Cell Research Symposium and provides funding for research. Members of the program specialize in fields covering nearly all realms of stem cell research.

Prof. Tudorita Tumbar, molecular biology and genetics, commented on the issue of funding in an email: “For better or worse, the federal funding system in the U.S. is designed to promote a competitive, business-like, productivity-based attitude towards research.” Tumbar is a member of the SCP who specializes in the stem cell properties of skin and hair cells. The problem with this atmosphere, she wrote, was that the financial considerations could discourage younger, developing laboratories from taking the risks and creative approaches that so often are integral to major discoveries.

“Obviously, obtaining more federal funds…will also result in attracting more scientists to our laboratories and universities, and potentially in the future bring more businesses to [New York state],” Tumbar wrote.

With federal funding going to developing laboratories, new advancements in stem cell technology may contribute to medical applications that avoid the ethical issues that have previously characterized stem cell research, such as the use of embryonic cells.