The NIH, which has an annual budget of over US$31 billion, is the world’s largest biomedical research agency and is a major strength for science in the U.S. Despite the political nature of stem cell research, this area of science has flourished across the country. In 2010, the NIH funded approximately US$1.3 billion in stem cell research. According to the ISI Web of Science, more than 4,000 U.S.-authored stem cell publications were produced in 2010 — approximately 40% of the world total. The average citation rate was 4.12 per article, with six articles amassing 100 citations in less than 18 months after release.

The Science and Technology Policy Program reviews the complex federal R&D budget process. Published in July 2011 by Science Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress.

The Texas Legislature did not pass legislation to ban and prevent the existence of "sanctuary cities" for undocumented immigrants in Texas during the 2011 May-June special session. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones examines whether the demise of this legislation was the Republican leadership's preferred outcome.

House Bill 12, the "sanctuary cities" bill that would have effectively banned cities providing safe have to illegal immigrants in Texas, died in the Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee in May of 2011. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones explains how Gov. Rick Perry managed to promote the agenda of the conservative wing of the Republican Party without diminishing his support among Hispanics.

This article, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, examines the impact of collaboration on publication significance in the United States and the United Kingdom, world leaders in stem cell research with disparate policies. The findings suggest that national stem cell policy differences and regulatory mechanisms driving international stem cell research in both countries did not affect the frequency of international collaborations, or even the countries with which the U.S. and U.K. most often collaborated.