A bill to allow human embryo stem cell research has passed through its initial stages in the French Parliament. The bill, which is government sponsored, seeks to update the 1994 bioethics law which forbids the use of human embryos in destructive research but which has a 'sunset clause' requiring the legislation to be reviewed after five years.
If passed into law, the bill will only allow stem cell research on spare embryos. The creation of cloned embryos (or therapeutic cloning) will be forbidden, as will the creation of cloned babies (reproductive cloning). Research on spare embryos will only be permitted if the donating couple has consented and the studies are approved by a new government agency.
Meanwhile, the German Parliament is due this week to vote on whether embryonic stem cells can be imported into Germany for research purposes. Although the outcome of the vote is difficult to predict, a recent report from Germany's National Ethics Council recommended that stem cell imports should be allowed to go ahead under strict controls.
France moves closer to embryo stem cell research
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
A bill to allow human embryo stem cell research has passed through its initial stages in the French Parliament. The bill, which is government sponsored, seeks to update the 1994 bioethics law which forbids the use of human embryos in destructive research but which has a 'sunset clause' requiring the...
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