THE SWISS STEM Cell Network (SSCN) is a nonprofit scientific organization devoted to promoting stem cell research in Switzerland. The SSCN was founded in Geneva in November 2004 by a number of scientists led by founding director Dr. Ariel Ruiz I Altaba of the University of Geneva, with the immediate goal of organizing the defense of stem cell research against a popular referendum that could have banned research involving use of human embryonic stem cells in Switzerland. The SSCN's effort to defend stem cell research was successful, and the Swiss populace voted almost two to one in favor of allowing the research use of human embryonic stem cells. This was a significant victory because, although référendums are common in Switzerland, this was the first referendum ...