“We don’t want this responsibility.”

University researchers say their one concern with the new guidelines is that stem cell lines approved by Bush will have to be re-reviewed by the NIH to ensure they meet the new standards.

“If they don’t, then people who have developed a lot of data with those lines will be left wondering where they stand and how much of that data they can use,” O’Shea said.

Morrison wrote that he believes current stem cell lines will adhere to the new guidelines.

“I expect that most existing lines will be found to have been ethically derived according to the core principles described in the NIH policy,” Morrison wrote. “This will eventually make hundreds of new stem cell lines available for use by NIH-funded scientists.”

Before NIH implemented the new guidelines, University stem cell researchers could only receive funding from private donors. Now, University researchers can use money from the NIH.

O’Shea said these funds will help her pursue research on a stem cell line that carries the mutation for Huntington’s Disease. Before, she could only accept money from donors to carry out the study.

“Now we’ll be able to get lines from embryos that carry genetic diseases, and we’ll be able to use those NIH funds for research, so that’s going to help a lot,” she said.