Not being saddled with the ethics and regulatory constraints US is confronted, Korea has been taking the lead in stem cell research. Earlier this year, Korean scientists lead by Hwang Woo-suk, created 11 disease-specific embryonic stem cell lines without using fertilized embryos. The same group reported having successfully cloned human embryonic lines.

This week, Korea launched the World Stem Cell Hub. A first of its kind, the new foundation will make disease-specific embryonic stem cell lines by somatic-cell nuclear transfer, which will then be shipped to paying scientists around the world. This would circumvent the regulation prohibiting US laboratories from producing their own stem cell lines.

On one hand, seeing how this would foster international cooperation, the easy in gaining access to stem cell lines might speed up development of stem-cell based therapies. But, it is also a wake-up call for the US to review its stance on stem cell research, when all it does is force US scientists to go through a roundabout route to get to the same goal.

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Photo Credit: http://english.chosun.com