By Ira Herrmann, Dipl. Biol.

It has been two years since the amendment of the German Stem Cell Act, which is regarded as one of the most restrictive laws regulating research with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), worldwide. The State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is not just the only German region organizing the statewide research activities in a network (established 2002), but is also the German state with the highest number of research projects focusing on human embryonic stem cells by far. This article provides an overview of the main recent research subjects and questions if these are influenced by the legal situation.