The race is on: human embryonic stem cell research goes global

Abstract

More nations are joining the human embryonic stem cell (hESC) "race" by aggressively publishing in the peer-reviewed journals. Here we present data on the international use and distribution of hESC using a dataset taken from the primary research literature. We extracted these papers from a comprehensive dataset of articles using hESC and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC). We find that the rate of publication by US-based authors is slowing in comparison to international labs, and then declines over the final year of the period 2008-2010. Non-US authors published more frequently and at a significantly higher rate, significantly increasing the number of their papers. In addition, international labs use a more diverse set of hESC lines and Obama-era additions are used more in non-US locations. Even considering the flood of new lines in the US and abroad, we see that researchers continue to rely on a few lines derived before the turn of the century. These data suggest "embargo" effects from restrictive policies on the US stem cell field. Over time, non-US labs have freely used lines on the US registries, while federally funded US scientists have been limited to using those lines approved by the NIH.

Figure 1

Worldwide frequency of the appearance of pluripotent human stem cell (hPSC) publications in the primary literature for the period 2008–2110.

Figure 2

Frequency of the appearance of pluripotent human stem cell (hPSC) publications in the primary literature for the period 2008–2110, by the top ten non-USA countries.

Figure 3

World wide frequency of the top 5% of human embryonic stem cell lines appearing in the primary literature, by line type, for the period 2008–2110. Lines are categorized by whether they were approved during the Bush administration, the Obama administration, both administrations, or neither.