The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) - the body that regulates and monitors clinics carrying out assisted conception treatment and human embryo research in the UK - has granted a human embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research licence to the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. The centre, which is famous for the cloning of Dolly the sheep in 1996, intends to improve the technology for the production and maintenance of human embryonic stem cells in culture.
The licence runs for one year, and allows scientists at the institute to conduct ES cell research on surplus human embryos created by IVF treatment and donated for research. It also allows them to create embryos by stimulating donated human eggs to divide like an embryo - despite not having been fertilised - in a process known as parthenogenesis. The parthenogenesis licence, which is the first of its kind in the UK, was issued following a House of Lords ruling in March, that the HFEA is able to regulate embryos outside of the body regardless of how they were initially created. The licence does not allow the Roslin Institute to produce cloned human embryos: researchers at the institute will have to apply for a separate licence in order to do so in the future.
According to the HFEA, stem cells created under the licence cannot be used to treat patients, but will only be for research purposes, including the possible testing of the safety and effectiveness of new medicines and the study of congenital disease. Any ES cell lines derived from research at the Roslin Institute will be deposited in the UK Stem Cell Bank to enable their use by other researchers.
Suzi Leather, chair of the HFEA, said that 'after careful consideration of all the scientific, ethical and medical aspects of the project, the HFEA Licence Committee agreed to grant an initial one year research licence to the Roslin Institute', adding that 'it is important that any research involving human embryos is scrutinised and properly regulated'.
Sources and References
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Go-ahead for stem cell research
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Institute gets licence to create stem cells
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HFEA grants Roslin Institute's first licence for human embryo research
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Human cloning: Dolly scientist wins approval to use 'virgin birth' technique
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