Countries colored in brown represent about 3.5 billion people, more than half the world's population. All have a permissive or flexible policy on human embryonic stem cell research and all have banned human reproductive cloning. Population: M = million.
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Australia - 20.3 M Belgium - 10.4 M Brazil - 188 M Canada - 33.1 M China - 1,314 M Czech Republic - 10.2 M Denmark - 5.4 M Estonia - 1.3 M Finland - 5.2 M |
France - 62.8 M Greece - 10.7 M Hong Kong - 6.9 M Hungary - 10 M Iceland - .3 M India - 1,045 M Iran - 69 M Israel - 6.4 M Japan - 127 M |
Latvia - 2.3 M The Netherlands - 16.5 M New Zealand - 4.1 M Portugal - 10.6 M Russia - 146 M Singapore - 4.5 M Slovenia - 2.0 M South Africa - 44 M South Korea - 40.4 M |
Spain - 40.4 M Sweden - 9 M Switzerland - 7.5 M Taiwan - 23 M Thailand - 65 M Turkey* - 70 M United Kingdom - 60.6 M |
 ★ for "remarkable merit" -- Kirkus Reviews |
 The Stem Cell Dilemma May 25, 2008 2 pm. ET 1 pm. CT BookTV.org |
Map Explanation
* Turkey is among several countries in which no
specific regulations and guidelines have so far been defined by legal or governmental institutions for human embryonic stem cell research. Dr. Necati Findikli of Istanbul Memorial Hospital reported the first known derivation of human embryonic stem cells from donated blastocyst-stage embryos in Turkey in 2005. Reproductive Medicine Online 10 (5), 617-627, 2005.
Images and Video
"permissive" = various embryonic stem cell derivation techniques including somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), also called research or therapeutic cloning. SCNT is the transfer of a cell nucleus from a somatic or body cell into an egg from which the nucleus has been removed. [Options 4 & 5 in Walters, LeRoy, in References, below] Countries in this category include Australia, Belgium, China, India, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and others. [Walters, LeRoy, National Academy of Sciences, 2004; University of Minnesota, 2007. See References, below] These countries represent a global population of more than 2.7 billion people.
"flexible" = derivations from fertility clinic donations only, excluding SCNT, and often under certain restrictions. [Option 3 in Walters, LeRoy, in References, below: "Research is permitted only on remaining embryos no longer needed for reproduction."] Countries in this category include Brazil, Canada, France, Iran, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, Taiwan, and others. [Walters, LeRoy, National Academy of Sciences, 2004; University of Minnesota, 2007. See References, below] These countries represent a global population of more than 700 million people. 
Restrictive policy or no established policy. For restrictive policy see Options 1 & 2 in Walters, LeRoy in References, below. Restrictive policies range from outright prohibition of human embryo research to permitting research on imported embryonic stem cell lines only to permitting research on a limited number of previously established stem cell lines. Countries with a restrictive policy include (among the most restrictive) Austria, Ireland, Norway, Poland, (among the less restrictive) Germany, Italy, and the United States.
Stem Cell Animation: RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Kobe, Japan.
Bingaman, The Honorable Jeff. Video of Speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, April 11, 2007
Map used by Senator Bingaman on the floor of the U.S. Senate. 
Green, Ronald. Dartmouth News: The Ethics of Stem Cells
References
Countries with a permissive or flexible policy
* USA has a restrictive policy.
General
HumGen International. StemGen World Map
International Society for Stem Cell Research - ISSCR. International Legislation on Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Map from William Hoffman: "Stem Cells: Human Health, Global Competition and National Security"
Also: "Stem Cells and the Global Revolution in Science and Medicine"
And: "Stem Cells and the New 'Age of Discovery'" [PowerPoint, 5MB]
A leading resource for information about stem cell policy on 