Now is your opportunity to take an important step to stop diabetes (and other diseases). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking public input on guidelines for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

It is critical for NIH to hear from as many members of the public as possible letting both the Administration and Congress know that diabetes (and other health) advocates strongly support the expansion of stem cell research.

Please review the 3 steps below to review and submit comments. The comment deadline is Tuesday, May 26. Additional information about this issue can be found at the bottom of this email.

1. Click http://nihoerextra.nih.gov/stem_cells/add.htm to be connected to the NIH comment form; Provide your name, and select ‘self’ for Affiliation.

2. Copy and paste the text below into the comment box or type in whatever comments you wish to make. You will be asked to enter a randomly assigned number as a security check. Then click ‘submit comments.’

3. Next, please click here to let us know you have submitted your comments.

Suggested comments (copy and paste into Comment section of NIH comment form and edit as appropriate for you):

Stem cell research holds much promise in the search for a cure and better treatments for the nearly 24 million American adults and children with diabetes, as well as those with many other serious medical conditions.

This research will allow scientists an opportunity to better explore how to control and direct stem cells so they can grow insulin-producing beta cells found in the pancreas. Creating new beta cells could mean a cure for type 1 diabetes and could provide a powerful tool for controlling type 2 diabetes.

I strongly support the draft guidelines on embryonic stem cell research. They demonstrate the ability of NIH to create a research framework that will allow for the potential of embryonic stem cell research while maintaining the highest safety and ethical standards.

As this process moves forward, however, I hope that NIH will consider adapting the guidelines to ensure they include funding not only new stem cell lines, but current stem cell lines that have been developed using prevailing ethical practices. Research on these current stem cell lines should be eligible for federal funding as part of the final rule.

Given the enormous promise of stem cells for diseases such as diabetes, it is important to allow federal funding for all forms of stem cell research, including research on embryonic stem cells, and that NIH continue to adapt as our scientists learn more about the promise of stem cell research.

I commend NIH for taking this important action to support research that provides the potential for new treatments, and ultimately a cure, for diabetes.

Additional Information

In March, the President issued an Executive Order that ended the blanket ban on federal funding of research using embryonic stem cell lines developed after August 2001. NIH was than instructed to develop guidelines for federal funding of this research.

The purpose of the guidelines is to establish a policy and procedures under which the federal government will fund research in this area, and to ensure that such research is ethically responsible, scientifically worthy, and conducted in accordance with applicable law. You can view the NIH’s draft guidelines online by clicking here.

The draft guidelines would allow funding for research using human embryonic stem cells that were derived from embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) for reproductive purposes and were no longer needed for that purpose. The guidelines also describe the conditions and informed consent procedures that would be required when obtaining embryonic stem cells for research that could be funded by the federal government.

The American Diabetes Association strongly supports the draft guidelines but is concerned that, as written, they may prevent stem cell lines in existence before the guidelines go into effect, from being eligible for federal research funding The Association is urging NIH to consider amending the guidelines to allow current stem cell lines derived using prevailing ethical practices to be considered for federal funding and that NIH be open to review other sources of stem cell lines (excluding reproductive cloning) in the future.