British scientists on Wednesday got a green light to conduct research using stem cells from cloned human embryos and set up the world s first embryo cell bank.
An influential House of Lords committee ruled that such research--which federally funded academics in the United States are barred from carrying out--should be allowed to proceed under strict conditions.
In therapeutic cloning, scientists extract the nucleus of a patient s cell and transplant it into an egg that has been stripped of its own nucleus. The egg is coaxed to grow into an embryo, which contains stem cells, the master cells that are the building blocks for all types of human tissue.
While this embryo theoretically could develop into a cloned human if implanted into a woman s uterus, scientists harvest the stem cells in the lab within days. The procedure is controversial because some people view it as creating life only to destroy it.
Committee chairman the Rt. Honourable Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford, said embryonic stem cells could be crucial for research into finding a cure for diseases such as Parkinson s and Alzheimer s.
We conclude that for this to be fully realised, no avenue of research should be blocked off at this stage, Harries told a news conference.
Britain last year became the first country explicitly to allow the creation of embryos by nuclear transfer as a source of stem cells.
The regulations were held up by a court ruling in November. Prime Minister Tony Blair s government rushed through revised legislation and an appeal court upheld the new laws last month, but research was effectively put on hold until Wednesday s announcement by the Lord s committee.
The British Medical Association said it strongly supported the verdict.
This research offers real hope to the millions of patients with conditions like Alzheimer s, Parkinson s and diabetes, the group s Head of Professional Activities, Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, said in a statement.
She added that while human stem cell research is promising, progress in that field may rely on a better understanding of embryonic cells. It is therefore essential that research using both adult and embryonic stem cells should continue together, she said.
The Royal Society also offered its own endorsement of the decision.
I think we can justifiably say society as a whole has made the decision that we should investigate the potential of developing powerful new treatments for serious diseases from both embryonic and adult stem cells, Professor Richard Gardner said.
The committee said that one condition for granting a research licence to clone human embryos should be that any cell line generated from it be deposited in a stem cell bank.
Before any licence was granted, health authorities should also ensure that there were no suitable existing cell lines in the bank.
We are pleased that the Lords have recommended the establishment of a stem cell bank as a matter of urgency. Such a bank will allow researchers to explore this enormous potential in a controlled environment, said Professor Sir George Radda, chief executive of the Medical Research Council.
Critics of human embryo cloning say it represents the first step on a slippery slope to reproductive cloning--a charge the committee strongly denied.
But paralysed Superman actor Christopher Reeve says he hopes stem cell research might give him the chance to walk again.
Reeve, confined to a wheelchair since breaking his neck in a horse riding accident in 1995, told BBC radio earlier this week he hoped scientists would be able to turn the stem cells into spinal cord tissue.
I would go to the UK, I would go anywhere in the world for therapy that is safe and could accomplish the goal of recovery, he said.
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