Calls to relax Australian ES cell laws amid advances

At a conference on global biotechnology being held in Philadelphia, US, Steve Bracks, the Premier of the Australian state of Victoria, has announced that a second Australian human embryonic stem cell (ES cell) line is to be made available to researchers worldwide without commercial or intellectual property restraints.

The cell line - called MEL-2 - is the second of six to be developed and distributed over the next two years by Stem Cell Sciences Limited (SCS), the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASCC) and Melbourne IVF. The first Australian ES cell line (MEL-1), was launched last year, and was accepted for deposit into the UK Stem Cell Bank. 'The stem cell lines are being made available to researchers without encumbrances to fast track research into treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes' said Mr Bracks, adding that the move would promote Victoria as being 'at the leading edge of stem cell sciences'.

Meanwhile, Victoria has called for national regulation of human ES cell research to be relaxed. This follows an announcement by the Australian federal government last week that the Prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002 are to be reviewed. The current legislation is very strict - it bans all forms of human cloning and regulates human embryo research, which can only take place on embryos created for reproductive purposes but no longer required by patients.

The review of the legislation will look at whether the law should be made more liberal, and will consider the establishment of a national stem cell bank, as well as other things. John Thwaites, the acting Premier of Victoria, said that although ethical issues needed to be considered, 'we do need to ensure that our stem cell research can go ahead, that it's not unduly restricted and Victoria and Australia can be one of the leaders in that'. He added: 'But if you're going to be in a situation where you can cure people, where people can have lives that are fulfilling instead of lives that are so restricted, then I think we've got an obligation to do that'.

John Brumby, the Treasurer of Victoria warned that Australia could lose its 'competitive edge' and its 'best people' if the present laws were not relaxed. 'If we don't keep at the leading edge of this research we will inevitably fall behind...we think there are huge scientific, health and economic benefits to Australia in moving in this direction', he said.