In January, Jordan passed a law to control research and therapy using human stem cells derived from embryos — the first such regulation in the Arab and Islamic region.It is already one of few countries in the Middle East with regulations for protecting people who participate in clinical trials. This latest law should serve as an example to other countries in the region.
The new rules ban private companies from using human embryonic stem (ES) cells in research or therapies. Such work will be allowed only in government organizations or publicly funded academic institutions in Jordan, which have higher levels of transparency than private firms and are supervised by the health ministry and a specialized committee. The law also bans payment for donations of stem cells and eggs, and says that modified and manipulated cells are not to be used for human reproduction. There is no current research on human ES cells in Jordan; this is a pre-emptive step.
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