Europe votes to ban stem cell research

by DAVID HARDING, Metro

Therapeutic cloning and research on stem cells from human embryos should be outlawed, Euro MPs decided yesterday.

The move could severely hamper British efforts to develop new treatments for diseases which are at present incurable such as diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Stem cell research is legal in Britain but banned in some EU member states.

Scientists condemned the vote, saying the European Parliament had been hijacked by a few extremists opposed to progress.

Zealots wanted to impose their views on the European Union, said Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society.

Stem cells are cells at an early stage of development and have the potential to turn into many different types of tissue.

They can be taken from adults but it is thought embryonic cells may be more versatile for medical use.

Opponents say the use of embryos is unethical and should be banned. The European ruling came a day after British judges gave the go-ahead for IVF clinics to create 'designer' babies.

Their ruling could save the life of four-year-old Zain Hashmi, who has a rare blood disorder.

Stem cells transplanted from a matched sibling could cure him - a procedure Euro MPs want to ban.

Meanwhile, US scientists yesterday said a biological quirk in the cells of primates may make human cloning impossible.

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