US panel proposes stem cell guidelines

A panel of the US National Academies of science has released a report detailing proposed voluntary ethical guidelines to be followed by human embryonic stem cell (ES cell) researchers. The ten-member panel makes more than 50 recommendations, including the primary recommendation that an ethical oversight committee is set up in each institution where ES cell research takes place. Such a committee should be made up of experts in the scientific, legal and ethical issues of ES cell research, as well as lay people, the panel advises.

The panel also recommended that a national ethical oversight system be established, which would keep ES cell research under review, similar to the way in which the National Institutes of Health already evaluates genetic engineering. It also recommended that human embryos could only be kept alive for research until they became 14 days old, that donors of embryos must sign consent forms acknowledging that the embryos will be destroyed, but that ES cell lines may live on for much longer. Donors should also be told that they can withdraw their consent at any point before an ES cell line is derived and that their identities would remain protected. A recommendation that women should never be paid to donate eggs for ES cell research was also included, as well as one saying that pressure should never be put on clinics to create more embryos than they needed for current research projects. The panel also restated its opposition to human reproductive cloning.

According to a National Academies press release, the purpose of the guidelines is to 'enhance the integrity of privately funded human ES cell research by encouraging responsible practices'. Bruce Alberts, President of the Academies says that he hopes the guidelines will standardise practices across the US. Daniel Perry, of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, said that the guidelines should 'satisfy the public that this research is being done for the best interest of tens of millions of patients'. Michael Castle and Diane Degette, who have introduced a bill to Congress that would relax President Bush's policy on ES cell research funding, while banning reproductive cloning, welcomed the guidelines. They said that the system as it stands 'lacks the comprehensive ethical guidelines and controls that are needed'.

Not everyone has welcomed the guidelines, however. Senator Sam Brownback, known for his opposition to all ES cell work, said the 'so-called 'guidelines' for destructive embryonic stem cell research try to put a good face on an unethical line of research'. 'We should not be destroying young human lives for the benefit of others', he added.