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The Scientist Daily News July 10, 2003 Guidelines for EU funding of stem cell research EC releases proposals to allow EU funding of human embryonic stem cell research By Andrew Scott The European Commission yesterday (July 9) published its proposed guidelines for funding human embryonic stem cell research. Funding in this field by the EU's 6th Research Framework Programme (FP6) has been on hold while the commission attempted to balance the ethical concerns of some member states against the eagerness of others to proceed. The new guidelines will allow funding of the research but impose strict controls. The reaction from key members of the research community has been mixed. "This is the worst compromise they could have come up with," Angelo Vescovi of the Stem Cell Research Institute in Milan told The Scientist. "It's a political compromise that has very little to do with science, and it's going to make everybody unhappy on both sides [of the debate]." Arne Sunde, chairman of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology shares concern about the restrictions within the guidelines but told The Scientist he at least welcomes the fact that the funding is finally to be allowed. George Radda, chief executive of the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom, was more upbeat. In a press release, he welcomed the outcome as "a positive step for the future of health and medicine." He added, "We recognize compromise was needed given the disparate views of member states." The guidelines, which will need to be ratified by the EU Council of Ministers, emphasize that each member state remains free to set its own rules. Some states already allow funding of embryonic stem cell research using non-EU funds, whereas in others it is banned. But projects receiving EU funding will need to meet the following key criteria: •The stem cells can only be derived from excess "supernumerary" embryos donated for research after informed consent by parents. •The cells must have been created before June 27, 2002, the date of the adoption of the 6th Research Framework Programme. •Project partners must seek ethical advice at national or local level in member states where the research will take place. •Research must meet "particularly important" research objectives. •Research will be funded only if no adequate alternative is available. •Embryo donor(s) will not be permitted to make any financial gain. •Data and privacy protection of donors must be guaranteed, and traceability of stem cells will be required. •Research consortia will be required to make their human embryonic stem cells available to other researchers. Vescovi is worried about the requirement to prove there is no viable alternative to proposed research. He said, "You will never come up with a proper answer to this… it will generate a lot of confusion and a lot of fights." Both Vescovi and Sunde are concerned about the arbitrary cutoff date, which only allows the use of embryos generated before June 27, 2002. "That date is a problem for many countries, as they may run out of embryos," Sunde said. Sunde also wonders about the situation many years from now when successful therapies have been developed using embryonic stem cell research. "The countries forbidding this type of research are quite immoral… letting the others do the research." He suggested voters in such countries should be warned they might not get the cures and benefits if they don't accept the research. Sunde is also concerned about the statement that the research must be "particularly important." Who will judge this? he asked. "Hopefully, the politicians will not interfere." On a positive note, Vescovi emphasized that "at least finally they have come up with a decision. From now on, hopefully, discussions will be much clearer." Links for this article EU News - Latest Press Releases http://europa.eu.int/news/index_en.htm "European Commission proposes strict ethical guidelines on EU funding of human embryonic stem cell research," European Commission press release, July 9, 2003. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/969|0|RAPID&lg=EN; M. Habeck, "EU settles stem cell research row," The Scientist, October 2, 2002. http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20021002/03/ A. Scott, "Stem cell funding ban debated," The Scientist, April 25, 2003. http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030425/05/ Stem Cell Research Institute http://www.sanraffaele.org/JumpCh.asp?idLang=EN&idUser=0&idChannel=1475 European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology http://www.eshre.com/ Medical Research Council http://www.mrc.ac.uk/ SOURCE: The Scientist / BioMed Central http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030710/04/ * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn