Decision on embryo stem cell research imminent

The findings of UK's Chief Medical Officer's report on the science and ethics of research into the use of human embryo stem cells to treat disease will be announced this Wednesday, according to newspaper reports last week. It will recommend that the cloning of early human embryo cells should be allowed, for research purposes only.

The government will say it agrees with the idea in principle, but that 'as a matter of conscience' it should be decided by parliament. A free vote is expected to take place this autumn. Liberal Democrat MP Dr Evan Harris said it was right that the issue should not be politicised. 'The original Act allowing research on human embryos10 years ago was a free vote so it is consistent with that' he told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

The government will also introduce new primary legislation banning human reproductive cloning, according to the Independent on Sunday newspaper. But the proposals were still criticised by pro-life and religious groups. 'We would still object to any research which involves the overproduction and then the destruction of human embryos' said a spokesman for the Catholic Church.

Meanwhile, in the US, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is drafting guidelines to allow federally-funded scientists to carry out research on human embryo stem cells. Such research has previously only been permitted in the private sector. Under the new NIH rules, scientists could work on cells obtained from embryos left over following IVF treatment.