¹ Americans for Cures Foundation, Stem Cell Facts, http://www.americansforcures.org/article.php?uid=1000 (accessed January 14, 2013).

² “A typical day-5 human embryo consists of 200–250 cells, most of which comprise the trophoblast, which is the outermost layer of the blastocyst. hESCs are harvested from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, which consists of 30–34 cells. The derivation of hESC cultures requires the removal of the trophoblast. This process of disaggregating the blastocyst's cells eliminates its potential for further development of the embryo” for more information see Appasani, K. et al., Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine: From Molecular Embryology to Tissue Engineering (New York, 2010), 429Google Scholar.

³ Not all stem cell research involves the creation, use, or destruction of human embryos. For example, adult stem cells, amniotic stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS) do not involve human embryos at all. However, the idiosyncratic character of human embryo stem cells makes them still an indispensable resource. hESCs are derived in vitro around the fifth day of the embryo's development. For more information, see Thomson, J. A. et al., “Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts,” Science 282, no. 5391 (1998): 1145–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

⁴ Andrew Siegel, “Ethics of Stem Cell Research,” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta (Fall 2008), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/stem-cells/ (accessed October 11, 2012).

⁵ Thomas Eagleton, “Right-to-lifers Should Support Stem Cell Work; I Support Stem Cell Research,” The Stem Cell Page, Time and Ignorance Are the Enemies, http://stemcellpage.com/index_files/Editorial051606.htm (accessed January 14, 2013).

⁶ The idea of window of opportunity was introduced in the literature of innovation system by Carlota Perez, see Perez, Carlota, “Technological Change and Opportunities for Development as a Moving Target,” Cepal Review 75 (2001): 109–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁷ Furcht, Leo, Hoffman, William, and Reeve, Brock, The Stem Cell Dilemma: The Scientific Breakthroughs, Ethical Concerns, Political Tensions, and Hope Surrounding Stem Cell Research (New York, 2011).Google Scholar

⁸ This document was drafted by the expediency Council and issued by the supreme leader in 2003.

⁹ For example the Iran Comprehensive Science Road Map (2009) and the Science Road Maps in different sectors and branches.

¹⁰ See the latest figures in the recent report of the center of social studies of the research center of IRI Parliament, http://rc.majlis.ir/fa/report/show/738631 (accessed October 23, 2012).

¹¹ Achambault, Eric, “30 Years in Science, Secular Movements in Knowledge Creation in Science,” Science Metrix, 2010, 6Google Scholar, http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Paper.pdf (accessed October 4, 2012).

¹² Debora McKenzie, “Iran Showing Fastest Scientific Growth of any Country,” New Scientist, science-in-society, February 18, 2010, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18546-iran-showing-fastest-scientific-growth-of-any-country.html (accessed October 4, 2012).

¹³ SCImago, http://www.scimagojr.com/countrysearch.php?country=IR (accessed October 4, 2012).

¹⁴ Smith, Christopher Llewellyn, Knowledge, Networks and Nations: Global Scientific Collaboration in the 21st Century (London, 2011).Google Scholar

¹⁵ Van Noorden, R., “365 Days: 2011 in Review,” Nature 480 (2011): 426–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar, http://www.nature.com/news/365-days-2011-in-review-1.9684 (accessed October 4, 2012).

¹⁶ When the Tunisian Islamist politician, Rashid al-Ghannushi, was asked what he liked about Iran, he said the “technology” and then elaborated that when you have had sanctions for 30 years, it is very valuable to have the technology you need. BBC Persian Service interview, October 24m 2011, “al-Ghannushi on Iran's successes and failures,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/world/2011/10/111024_ll_tunis_iran.shtml (accessed October 24, 2012).

¹⁷ Eric Achambault, 30 Years in Science, Secular Movements in Knowledge Creation in Science, http://www.science-metrix.com/30years-Paper.pdf (accessed October 4, 2012).

¹⁸ “Embedded agency” is the key concept in organizational studies literature a third position adopted by scholars who have attempted to reconcile the perspectives of those who emphasize agency or structure. More specifically, they have presented theoretical frameworks that acknowledge the dialectical relationship between “structure” and “agency”; in their view, both “structures” and human “agency” are important in the explanation of social life and organization. This has been the approach adopted more recently by a number of contemporary social theorists. For more information, see Raghu, Garud, Hardy, Cynthia, and Maguire, Steve, “Institutional Entrepreneurship: Paradox of embedded Agency,” Organization Studies 28, no. 7 (2007): 957–70Google Scholar.

¹⁹ Raghu, Garud and Karnøe, Peter, “Bricolage versus Breakthrough: Distributed and Embedded Agency in Technology Entrepreneurship,” Research Policy 32 (2003): 277–300.Google Scholar

²⁰ Schutz, A., Collected Papers I: The Problem with Social Reality, 4th ed. (The Hague, 1973).Google Scholar

²¹ Perez's concept of “window of opportunity” has been already applied in the Iranian sector of stem cell research and technology. See Miremadi, Tahereh, “Window of Opportunity in the Midst of International Tensions, Stem Cell Research in Iran,” Review of Research Policy 27, no. 6 (November 2010): 699–719CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The paper was focused on the impacts of international tensions and economic sanctions on the development of stem cell research in Iran.

²² According the most recent census in Iran, 42 million around 55.8 percent of the total population are under the age of 30—of which 3.8 million are college students. For the population figures see http://www.sabteahval.ir/Upload/Modules/Contents/…/eteljamiyat88.pdf. For statistics of university students, see http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/pages/?cid=63267.

²³ See the history of bone marrow transplantation, “Human Stem Cells at Johns Hopkins: A Forty Year History,” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/stem_cell_research/cell_therapy/human_stem_cells_johns_hopkins.html#moving_beyond (December 16, 2012).

²⁴ Ghavamzadeh, A. et al., “Stem Cell Transplantation,” Archive of Iranian Medicine 12, no. 1 (2009): 69–72.Google ScholarPubMed

²⁵ Developments in biotechnology in the 1980s and 1990s saw the introduction of techniques for targeting and altering genetic material and methods for growing human cells in the laboratory. These advances really opened the doors for human stem cell research. See Jennifer Viegas, Stem Cell Research (New York, 2003), 41.

²⁶ Miremadi, “Window of Opportunity in the Midst of International Tension,” 706.

²⁷ Thomson, James et al., “Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts,” Science 282, no. 5391 (November 6, 1998): 1145–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

²⁸ David Morrison and Ali Khademhosseini, Stem Cell Science in Iran (2006), http://isgmit.org/research/?id=433&cat=iran&stat=full (accessed October 4, 2012).

²⁹ Personal interview with Dr Vasei conducted October 10, 2011.

³⁰ Khodadadi, L. et al. “Intraepidermal Injection of Dissociated Epidermal Cell Suspension Improves Vitiligo,” Archive of Dermatological Research 302, no. 8 (2010): 593–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

³¹ A service of the US National Institutes of Health, the ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world.

³² Mohammadi, R. et al., “Comparison of Beneficial Effects of Undifferentiated Cultured Bone Marrow Stromal Cells and Omentaladipose-Derived Nucleated Cell Fractions on Sciatic Nerve Regeneration,” Journal of Muscle Nerve 43, no. 2 (February 2011): 157–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

³³ Fathi, F. et al., “Translation of Retinoic Acid Treated Murine Embryonic Stem Cells and Behavioral Deficit in Parkinsonian Rats,” Indian Journal of Medical Research 131 (April 2010): 536–44.Google Scholar

³⁴ Jafari, S.S. Seyed et al., “Investigating the Effects of Adult Neural Stem Cell Transplantation by Lumbar Puncture in Transient Cerebral Ischemia,” Neuroscience Letters 495, no. 1 (May 2011): 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁵ Khalili, M. et al., “Therapeutic Benefit of Intravenous Transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells after Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rats,” Journal of Stroke Cerebrovascular Disease 6 (August 2012): 445–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁶ Miremadi, Tahereh et al., “Stem Cell Research and Therapy in Islamic Republic of Iran, Pioneering in Islamic World,” Stem Cells and Development 22, no. 1 (2013): 51–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁷ Ilkilic, Ilhan and Ertin, Hakan, “Ethical Aspects of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in the Islamic World: Positions and Reflections,” Stem Cell Reviews and Reports 6 (2010): 151–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

³⁸ Suffice it to say that Islam has always encouraged scientific research, particularly research directed toward finding cures for human disease. Based on the expectation of potential benefits, Islamic teachings permit and support hESC research. The majority of Muslim scholars also support therapeutic cloning. This permissibility is conditional on the use of supernumerary early pre-embryos which are obtained during infertility treatment at IVF clinics. The early pre-embryos are considered in Islamic jurisprudence as worthy of respect but do not have the full sanctity offered to the embryo after implantation in the uterus and especially after ensoulment (less than 40–45 days), see Kumar, Dhavendra, ed., Geneomics and Health in Developing Countries (New York, 2012), 88Google Scholar.

³⁹ The efforts of the University of Wisconsin and the research team headed by Dr Thomson were analyzed in the paper by Jain, Sanjaya and George, G., “Technology Transfer Offices as Institutional Entrepreneurs: The Case of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Human Embryonic Stem Cells,” Industrial and Corporate Change 16, no. 4 (2007): 535–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁴⁰ Note that on March 9, 2009: President Obama reversed George W. Bush's 2001 executive Order, http://www.stemcellhistory.com/stem-cell-research-timeline (accessed March 26, 2013).

⁴¹ Note that in the early years of the 2000s, the US diplomatic delegation tried to completely ban research on human stem cells, but failed, in part because of Iran's opposition. In one instance, Iran, on behalf of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), moved successfully in 2003 in the UN General Assembly to defer the consideration of the relevant item on the agenda to a later date.

⁴² http://farsi.khamenei.ir/others-memory?id=10064 (accessed October 4, 2012).

⁴³ For the nature of the personal relationship in this dialogical discourse, see Clarke, Morgan and Inhorn, Marcia C., “Mutually and Immediacy between Marja and Muqalled: Evidence from Male in Vitro Fertilization Patients in Shi'i Lebanon,” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 34, no. 3 (December 2007): 287–303CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁴⁴ The text of the fatwa has not been published. The author was provided with a copy of it by the Royan Institute.

⁴⁵ http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=33857.

⁴⁶ ACECR, Biography of Dr Kazemi Ashtyani (Tehran, 2005)Google Scholar. Suffice it to say that his biography has been included in some high school textbooks: http://www.acecr.ac.ir/frmArticle_fa-IR.aspx?ID=454825&CategoryID=21 (accessed October 4, 2012).

⁴⁷ The Cultural Revolution (1980–87) was a period following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran where academia was purged of western and non-Islamic influences to bring it in line with Shia Islam. Directed by the Cultural Revolutionary Headquarters and later by the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, the revolution initially closed universities for three years (1980–83).

⁴⁸ Saniei, and de Vries, , “Embryonic Stem Cell Research in Iran: Status and Ethics,” Indian Journal of Medical Ethics 5, no. 4 (2008): 181–4.Google ScholarPubMed

⁴⁹ At the age of eighteen, he taught the Islamic worldview (Binesh-e-Islami) in high schools, http://www.aftabir.com/lifestyle/view/100225/سعید-کاظمی-آشتیانی (accessed November 6, 2012).

⁵⁰ As an institutional entrepreneurship, he helped create many start-ups in which he held honorary positions afterwards.

⁵¹ http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=35124&Keyword=%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B8%D9%85%DB%8C+%D8%A2%D8%B4%D8%AA%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C+ (accessed October 4, 2012).

⁵² http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/?p=contentShow&id=2466 (accessed October 4, 2012).

⁵³ http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/?p=contentShow&id=2466 (accessed October 4, 2012).

⁵⁴ http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/?p=contentShow&id=3124 (October 4, 2012).

⁵⁵ http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/?p=bayanat&id=3811 (October 4, 2012).

⁵⁶ http://www.magiran.com/npview.asp?ID=1445252 (October 4, 2012).

⁵⁷ As far as the other Shiite communities were concerned, the Lebanese accepted the use of human embryo for stem cell research and testing when their Marjas, including Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, issued the permissive fatwa for using human embryos for research and testing. See Marlin Dic, “A Year after his Death, Fadlallah's Legacy Alive,” Daily Star, July 4, 2011, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Jul-04/A-year-after-his-death-Fadlallahs-legacy-alive.ashx#ixzz2A3dKSHnQ (accessed October 10, 2012).

⁵⁸ -Ganjineh-ye-estefta'at cited in Eslami, Hasan, “Shabih-sazi - ye Ensani az Didgah-e-Shi'i,” Faslnemeh Fegh 44 (2005): 3–66Google Scholar.

⁵⁹ One of the directors general of Ministry of Health and Medical Education told me that on one occasion when he was with the then Minister, Dr Bagheri Lankarani, on a visit to the holy city of Qom, “every Marja' asked enthusiastically to be briefed about the progress in stem cell research in Iran” (the interview was conducted in the summer of 2009).

⁶⁰ The volume of the IDRO and Leed Co. investment in the Royan's Institute research has never been disclosed.

⁶¹ R. Jaenisch, “Enthusiastic Stem-Cell Researchers in Iran Face Plentiful Funding but a Shortage of Equipment,” Nature Reports Stem, October 25, 2007, http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2007/0710/071025/full/stemcells.2007.105.html (accessed September 28, 2012).

⁶² Larijani, B., Zahedi, F., and MalekAfzali, H., “Medical Ethics in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” East Mediterranean Health Journal 11, no. 5–6 (September–November 2005): 1061–72;Google ScholarPubMed Larijani, B., Zahedi, F., and MalekAfzali, H., “Contemporary Medical Ethics: An Overview from Iran,” Developing World Bioethics 8, no. 3 (2008): 192–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

⁶³ Nonetheless, relying upon consent forms, the doctors treat patients regardless of the legal situation, thus creating a problematic situation for both patients and doctors.

⁶⁴ Personal interview with Dr Vasei by the author, October 15, 2011.

⁶⁵ My interviews with various sources, inside the Royan Institute and outsiders during fall 2011 and winter 2012.

⁶⁶ Neri, Demetri, “The Race Towards Ethically Universally Acceptable Human Pluripotent (Embryonic-like) Stem Cells: Only a Problem of Sources?,” Journal of Bioethics 25, no. 5 (2011): 260–66Google Scholar; and Hauskeller, Christine and Weber, Susanne, “Framing Pluripotency: iPS Cells and the Shaping of Stem Cell Science,” Journal of New Genetics and Society 30, no. 4 (2011): 415–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

67 The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies to the European Commission, Recommendations on the ethical review of hESC FP7 research projects, Opinion No. 22 (2007), ec.europa.eu/bepa/european-group-ethics/index_en.htm (accessed October 4, 2012).

⁶⁸ Global scientific competition.

⁶⁹ The goal to be the first nation in the scientific ranking of the region is repetitively enshrined in the “Twenty-Year Vision” and accordingly it is often used in the official literature.