Premier backing stem cell research
May 19 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal
PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has made a personal plea for MPs to back the work of scientists at Newcastle University as they look for potential cures to life-threatening diseases.
Mr Brown yesterday hit out at critics who have condemned as “Frankenstein science” the stem cell research being carried out in Newcastle and London.
Scientists are hoping a Bill working its way through Parliament will give the backing to experiments currently taking place at Newcastle’s Centre for Life in which human skin cells are inserted into cow eggs and allowed to grow for a few days.
The process allows scientists to work with stem cells extracted from the hybrids as they seek treatments for conditions such as motor neurone disease and Alzheimer’s.
Writing in The Observer newspaper yesterday, Mr Brown said he sees the “profound opportunity we have to save and transform millions of lives through this strand of medicine”.
The Prime Minister’s youngest son Fraser has cystic fibrosis, a condition which could one day benefit from the work under way at Newcastle University.
Mr Brown said: “Right now teams of scientists in London and Newcastle are researching conditions such as Alzheimer’s using this technique, but they face uncertainty because there is no clear legal framework to govern their work.
“Our bill will provide such a framework to support the research but within clear boundaries.”
After pressure from religious groups, Mr Brown allowed a free vote over parts of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that are before the House of Commons this week.
There will also be a free vote on a number of backbench amendments to the Bill relating to the law on abortion.
Prof John Burn, head of Newcastle University’s Institute of Human Genetics, will be speaking to MPs in the Commons tomorrow.
Yesterday he welcomed the Prime Minister’s stand.
He said: “It comes back to trust. We are very open about what we do here, we have nothing to hide and part of the problem is people do not understand what exactly we are doing.
“We do not use any eggs or sperm, and nothing is allowed to grow to anything even resembling an embryo. If we could use human eggs to gather stem cells from we would do so, but they are just not available in the quantities needed.
“It’s a bit like making a new recipe, you would not use the best ingredients when you haven’t even figured out what Gas Mark to cook it on...
“There’s a lot of uncertainty around our work, but I think once people actually move away from the hybrid worries they see why it is important.”
