The newly revised 2021 ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation includes scientific and ethical guidance for the transfer of human pluripotent stem cells and their direct derivatives into animal models. In this white paper, the ISSCR subcommittee that drafted these guidelines for research involving the use of nonhuman embryos and postnatal animals explains and summarizes their recommendations.

The newly revised ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation includes scientific and ethical guidance for the transfer of human pluripotent stem cells and their direct derivatives into animal models (ISSCR, 2021). We are the members of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Task Force subcommittee that drafted these guidelines for stem cell research involving the use of nonhuman embryos and animals, and we summarize and explain our recommendations in this white paper. This report should be read in conjunction with Section 2 of the guidelines, entitled ‘‘Laboratory-Based Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Embryo Research, and Related Research Activities,’’ and Appendix 1.