The University of California, Irvine, said Tuesday that researchers plan to develop up to five new embryonic stem cell lines for researching potential treatments for spinal cord injury, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
The stem cell lines would be the first to be developed at the university. UCI plans to offer the stem cell lines for free to researchers.
The stem cell lines will be derived from surplus embryos donated by couples who receive fertility treatment at West Coast Fertility Centers, which is based in Fountain Valley and has locations in Fullerton and Irvine.
The donations will be made with consent of the couples and under a procedure approved by an oversight committee, the university said in a release.
The UCI team is led by Hans Keirstead, co-director of UCI’s stem cell research center, and Gabriel Nistor, a scientist in his laboratory.
Research using embryonic stem cells is controversial. President Bush earlier this decade said the federal government would not fund development of new stem cell lines.
But California voters backed Proposition 71 in 2004. The law earmarks billions of dollars to stem cell research in the state, though the effort has been slow to get off the ground.
