A cell that can multiply and give rise to a variety of other, more specialised cell types. For example, stem cells in the bone marrow make many different blood cells.
A senior Republican member of the US Senate spoke in support of allowing federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, increasing the chance that Congress will allow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund such work. Strom Thurmond's (Republican, South Carolina) testimony was an indication that some US...
After much speculation about its contents, the US National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) has finally published its recommendations on stem cell research and public funding. In line with expectations, the Commission has recommended that federal law be changed to allow public funding for research using human embryos. Since the possibility...
Professor Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, announced the membership and terms of reference of the expert group set up to examine the potential benefits and risks of - and alternatives to - therapeutic cloning research. The expert group was established by the UK government to further explore the pros and cons...
There was a new development in the ongoing debate over whether the US government should fund human embryonic stem cell research. Under pressure from the Catholic Church, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has withdrawn from a coalition that is lobbying Congress to allow federal funding of such research. The ACS...
President Clinton's ethics advisors on biotechnology issues were finalising details of their long-awaited recommendations on stem cell research, last week. As suggested by the tenor of their draft recommendations, they are expected to advise a change in the law to allow federal funding of such research. The National Bioethics Advisory...
Over 100 anti-abortionist campaigners in the US - led by Senator Sam Brownback (Republican, Kansas) and organised by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Illinois - released a statement arguing that human embryonic stem cell research is scientifically unnecessary and urging Congress to fund alternative work. The statement was released...
Despite the government's recent announcement of a delay in making a decision on whether to allow human embryo research using cloning techniques, it appears that some research may be legally possible in the UK. So-called therapeutic cloning attempts to marry developments in embryo stem cell research with cloning technology, in...
It was against the background of increasing excitement about the therapeutic potential of stem-cell and cloning technologies that the UK Government's Human Genetics Advisory Commission and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority issued a joint report last December. They strongly recommended that the Government give the go-ahead for research using...
Doctors at St Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston (US) have injected engineered DNA into an 81 year old's heart muscles to help restore blood-flow to clogged arteries by using a catheter for the first time - without the use of anaesthesia. Until now, the DNA was was injected into the heart...
This week's BioNews includes a story from the United States that the National Bioethics Advisory Commission is about to publish recommendations that federal funds be made available for some human embryo research. A congressional ban, in place since 1994, has meant that no federal money can be used to fund...
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