The field of guidance documents for human embryonic stem cell research seems like it’ll be getting a little smaller. The National Academies released an updated set of guidelines today, but the committee behind the document has decided to disband. In its report, the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee (HESCRAC) says that guidance put out by the National Institutes of Health should now supersede its own.

Notably, while the Academies’ guidelines offer similar advice to that from the NIH, it extends to privately funded embryonic stem cell research. That includes the use of embyros created solely for research purposes, as well as embryos created through nuclear transfer. The guidelines also include recommendations for experiments that implant human stem cells into animal tissues, which the NIH only briefly touches upon. HESCRAC recommends allowing the studies if there is no potential for generating chimeric neural or gametic cells; those that do have the potential should go through extra review.

With HESCRAC disbanding, however, the evolution in Academies guidance on stem cells may end here. Committee members recommended that the Academies now serve as “an ongoing neutral forum for productive discussion of stem cell issues.” For continued guidance, they recommend that research institutions form or continue relying upon embryonic stem cell research organizations. HESCRAC also recognizes the availability of guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research, which, it notes, has “tracked closely the National Academies’ guidelines.”

This kind of refinement in research guidance can only be helpful to the stem cell field. If researchers have a better idea of what can and should be done, it might also yield the benefits sooner.