EU lawmakers urge status quo on stem cell research

By Jeremy Smith

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU scientists should get a much-needed
boost of public money over the next seven years even though
Europe is likely to retain its cautious approach to stem cell
research, EU lawmakers agreed on Thursday.

While only a small share of funding for 2007-13 is
earmarked for stem cell research, the controversial issue has
overshadowed negotiations on the EU research budget for months.

The aim is to plow more cash into research and foster young
scientists, and to curb Europe’s well-documented “brain drain”
of trained staff to countries such as the United States.

In their first vote on the future funding, held in the
eastern French city of Strasbourg, MEPs said EU cash could be
used for research into human stem cells, both adult and
embryonic, depending on the content of each scientific
proposal.

But strict conditions should continue to apply to using
human embryonic cells for research, they said.

If agreed by EU ministers and the European Commission, that
would continue the same policy as now, where public money funds
some stem cell research but not the use of cloned stem cells.
MEPs are likely to debate the subject again in the autumn.

The 2007-13 research budget should be finalised at around
51 billion euros ($64.3 billion), to be split into four program
areas that each contain specific themes — such as health,
biotechnology, nanosciences, energy, space and environment.

The parliament’s main political groups mostly supported the
EU continuing its cautious case-by-case approach on stem cells,
smoothing the way for an approval of the draft research budget.

“Stem cell research offers the only hope for millions of
people suffering from devastating diseases like Parkinson’s,
Alzheimer’s and cancer,” said British Labour MEP Gary Titley.

“Though the research is controversial, we can be confident
that Europe has the most sophisticated system on ethics and
research established in any public institution,” he said.

Human stem cells can develop into any cell type. Scientists
believe they can be used to develop drugs for diseases for
which no treatments are available or to help repair parts of
the body.

Their use is controversial because the most promising stem
cells for treating human diseases are derived from very early
human embryos left over from fertility treatments.

Some Christian churches, particularly the Roman Catholic
Church, are opposed to research on human embryonic stem cells
as they consider it tantamount to destroying human life.

There is no general policy under the EU’s current research
program but permission for individual projects using human stem
cells is granted by a committee on a case-by-case basis.

Each project has to show that the research could not be
conducted using adult stem cells such as bone marrow. A
majority of EU governments favor continuing this approach.

Opinions vary widely across the EU-25 on the ethics of stem
cells. Austria, Lithuania and Poland have laws banning research
into human embryonic stem cell research, for example.

But Belgium, Britain and Sweden allow therapeutic cloning
– now expressly excluded from EU funding — while Germany and
Italy have regulations that restrict research in this area.

Human cloning is completely banned in the 25-nation bloc.

($1=.7932 euro)