Background: Stem cell based therapies have been hailed as futuristic medicine that holds promise of curing some of the currently untreatable diseases. As stem cells can be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture, their true use in medical therapies has been proposed. There are several medical, ethical and legal issues that need to be regulated by a national authority. Some countries have resolved this issue by drawing up National Guidelines and regulatory mechanisms for the use of stem cells for research. In India the Department of Biotechnology in collaboration with Indian council of Medical Research has come up with appropriate regulations and guidelines for conducting stem cell research.