Scientists need public support for cloned tissue therapies

This week's BioNews reports on news that the American biotech company which funded last year's stem cell breakthrough has bought the commercial arm of the Roslin Institute. With the new acquisition, the Geron Corporation will now be able to marry the nuclear transfer technology developed at Roslin with the American stem cell work to develop the much talked of human tissue transplantation therapies. If the research proves successful, Geron could be in a position to reap substantial returns on its investment.

But the uncertainties of science are not the only thing that stands in the way of Geron's success. In Britain and in the Unites States, regulation governing the use of human embryos for research could prove to be a stumbling block for the development of tissue therapy technologies.

In the US, a ban on the use of federal funds for human embryo research has been in place since 1996. November's human embryonic stem cell breakthrough has forced US regulators to rethink the ban. But a strong pro-life lobby in American political life will make it difficult for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reverse it. Instead, the NIH is trying to find a way for the ban to remain in place whilst allowing the human embryonic stem cell work to continue in the public sector.

In Britain, meanwhile, legislation governing human embryo research has taken a different course. The 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act permits human embryo research, but only under tight restrictions. As it presently stands, the legislation does not allow for research on human embryos in order to develop tissue therapies. Some modification of the embryo research regulations will be required before Geron can start work on human technologies. And whilst British opposition to such research is by no means as vehement as in the US, any Parliamentary discussion of human cloning technologies will not be without controversy.

Geron has, no doubt, considered these possibilities and has calculated that nuclear transfer and human embryonic stem cell research is unlikely to be completely prohibited in either country. Even if the American federal ban continues, Geron can continue to fund research in the private sector. And given the legislative endorsement of human embryo research in Britain, regulations permitting research on cloned human embryos are likely to be passed.

But the law is only one hurdle. Geron - and other companies planning work in this area - needs to win public and well as political support for nuclear transfer and stem cell technologies, in Britain and in the United States. We need more and better arguments in favour of such work so that technologies which are today a possibility become a reality in the future.