Stem cell issue reemerges

The coincidence of the selection of a new director of the National Institutes of Health and NIH efforts to finalize its draft Guidelines for Research Involving Human Pluripotent Stem Cells could complicate both issues.

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala has submitted the names of two NIH institute directors, Gerald Fischbach (the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) and Steven Hyman (the National Institute of Mental Health) to President Clinton as potential successors for Harold Varmus, who became head of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in January. The White House has picked Fischbach, according to administration sources. ...