Japan allows creation of embryos for research

Japan's Council for Science and Technology Policy has approved a proposal made by a bioethics subcommittee earlier this month that will allow scientists to create human embryos for basic research purposes, including stem cell research. Embryos will now be able to be created either by the fertilisation of human eggs, or by the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning) procedures.

The Council, which is chaired by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, approved the cloning technique in the hope that scientists will be able to use the human embryos created to conduct basic research into regenerative medicine. For example, they may be able to derive stem cells from the embryos which, it is thought, may one day be used in the treatment for degenerative diseases like Parkinson's. However, the Council's approval does yet not extend as far as allowing the use of cloned cells in the treatment of patients. Embryos created by fertilisation will be used for research into reproductive medicine only.

Until now, the use of cloning to create embryos has been banned in Japan under an existing law passed in 2001, which also bans human reproductive cloning. Following the Council's decision, Japan's Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry and its Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will work together to draft regulatory guidelines on the production and use of cloned human embryos. In their guidelines, the ministries will create a monitoring system and rules that researchers must adhere to, such as the method by which they are able to obtain eggs. Until these systems and guidelines are in place and have been double checked by the government, no cloning research will be allowed to commence.

Some critics are worried that allowing cloning for research will inevitably lead to reproductive cloning. In order to prevent this from happening, the Council also recommended that only state authorised institutions will be able to conduct cloning experiments.