Labs that produce stem cells say many still not ready for research

WASHINGTON -- Researchers who developed some of the 64 embryonic stem cell lines that can be studied under federal grants say some of the lines they produced may prove unsuitable for further use and others are mired in patenting and licensing issues.

Scientists at Goteborg University in Sweden, which the National Institutes of Health says has 19 cell lines available, said Tuesday that only three are ready for research. The rest are still being processed and have uncertain futures.

"We don't know if all of them ... will become cell lines," said Professor Anders Lindahl of the Institute of Laboratory Medicine at Sahlegrenska University Hospital in Goteborg. A stem cell line is established when the cells become a self-replenishing colony, creating generation after generation of identical cells.

"We are on our way," he said.