UK Cloning report sparks debate
The UK government's publication of a report on stem cell research has whipped up a debate on the ethics and morality of cloning once more, both in the UK and abroad. The Donaldson report, released by the UK government this August, recommends that stem cell research should be permitted - including research on human embryos - subject to strict legal controls and ethical considerations. Stem cell research involves the isolation of a nucleus from a cell very early in its development, which is then cloned to produce similar cells for cell and tissue therapy. These cells can be grown into almost any tissue in the body, meaning that scientists could 'grow' tissue-banks of cells for different parts of the human body, such as the skin or liver. These could be transplanted to patients with a much-reduced risk of rejection. Equally, tissue grown from a person's own stem cells, would be a perfect match, with practically no risk of rejection at all (this has been dubbed 'therapeutic cloning'). Apart from raising concerns about increasing the likelihood of reproductive cloning, the technique is also opposed by many religious groups and pro-life campaigners because, at the moment, stem cells can only be harvested from embryos. But the report has been broadly welcomed by British researchers, and a number of the British Research Councils were quick to publish statements of their support. Professor Ray Baker, Chief Executive for the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (the BBSRC) said: 'The Donaldson report recommendations will help us take forward the extensive fundamental stem cell research that BBSRC has been funding for over ten years, and strengthen the potential for using this science to underpin medical and healthcare research and improve the quality of life significantly.' The BBSRC's long-standing stem cell biology research programme currently includes a £4.1 million (2.5 million euro) research portfolio. Britain's Nuffield Council on Bioethics also welcomed the report which has conclusions in line with its own position, published in a discussion paper earlier this year. 'We were very pleased to see that the CMO's [Chief Medical Officer's Expert Group] Report addressed important ethical issues such as the need for specific consent by embryo donors to embryonic stem cell research,' said Dr Sandy Thomas, director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. 'For patients suffering from a wide range of currently incurable disorders it offers the hope that new forms of therapies may be developed sooner rather than later,' added the UK Genetic Interest Group. Alastair Kent, the Group's director commented: 'It is impossible to predict which area of research will prove most fruitful. However the consensus is that two areas of research may be crucial. On embryonic stem cells, because they have the potential to be developed into the widest range of tissues; and on the way in which the egg reprogrammes a nucleus after cell nuclear replacement, because this may provide the key to the development of stem cells immunocompatible with the patient.' At the moment, stem cell research is banned under UK law but, in the wake of the Donaldson report, the UK government has pledged to put legislation in place once and for all to clarify the current ban on reproductive cloning. 'The pressure is building for politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to change the rules on embryo research,' observed New Scientist, one of the UK's leading science magazines. The Donaldson report calls for changes in the law to allow both therapeutic cloning and research using the cloning technique pioneered by Scottish researchers with 'Dolly the sheep' to treat certain inherited diseases. Cloning for reproductive purposes would stay banned. The issue is to be put to ballot in the UK government, with Members of Parliament allowed to vote according to their personal (rather than their party) position. The move has met with a negative response from a number of the EU Member States. The German minister for health, Andrea Fisher, warned against making 'hasty decisions' and stressed the need to 'weigh up the pros and cons of possible dangers', according to reports in the German press. In Italy, Patrizia Toia, minister for relations with Parliament described the latest developments in the UK as 'very, very serious' and Italian MEP Antonio Tajani, has called on the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, to intervene. Noelle Lenoir, Chair of the European Group on ethics, which advises the European Union on such matters and must publish its own opinion on the subject in November, told the French journal Liberation that 'the British decision raises the problem of the use of the embryo on almost an industrial level.' Meanwhile, Italian MEP Emma Bonino stood by the British Government. The proposed legislation would be 'the best guarantee against the Far West [in this field]', she said. In the USA, stem cell research is only allowed in private laboratories, but Federal researchers are expecting to get the green light to harvest and work on stem cells soon as concern intensifies over private laboratories' growing monopoly of the science. The European Commission has been quick to clarify the UK's position. 'Member States have the right to introduce such legislation,' said a Commission spokesperson, as the issue is not covered by any Community regulation. At the moment, the only related regulation is that of banning the patenting of the human genome. The European Group on Ethics and a high level forum on research and bio-sciences are expected to communicate their positions on therapeutic cloning to the Commission this November.