| It gives me great pleasure to open this seminar on the important subject of stem cell research.
This seminar is an international one, and rightly so, because science knows no national boundaries. But it was sponsored by the UK delegation to this convention, and it has a major contribution from the UK science base, and so I would like to take this opportunity of explaining the UK Government's stance in relation to this vital field of research.
We recognise the potential contribution of stem cell research to a major proportion of all the human illnesses that have defied medicine over the past century - and from which increasing numbers of people suffer as we live longer:
- Neuro-degenerative diseases
- Organ failure
- Diseases of the blood and immune systems
- Tissue destruction
- Cancers
- And conditions associated with ageing
to mention just a few.
We also recognise that there are differing views on the ethical aspects of this work.
And we in the UK did not take our position lightly - we have had two decades of extensive public and parliamentary debate. The debate started in the early 1980s when the Warnock Inquiry looked into issues surrounding infertility and embryo research. Further discussion and debate of their recommendations to regulate, led to the implementation of a Parliamentary Act in 1990. This included the setting up of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) to administer and monitor it.
The advent of cloning, specifically, the birth of Dolly the Sheep in 1997, prompted further public consultation, this time by the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority and Human Genetics Advisory Commission. Their joint report recommended extending the purposes for which human embryos could be used in research, to include the development of therapeutic treatments: a serious step. So the Government asked Sir Liam Donaldson, the then Chief Medical Officer to set up a group to examine the scientific evidence and ethical issues more closely. In 2000, his group recommended extending the legislation, as long as certain safeguards were in place. The regulations only became law because they were passed, after free debate, by both Houses of Parliament.
The debate has continued - a House of Lords Select Committee has since spent a year considering the issue of stem cells in depth. Their report, published in February this year, endorsed the Government's position.
We have a clear position in the UK that allows therapeutic cloning, which offers enormous potential benefits, should be permitted. However reproductive cloning cannot and will not be permitted in the UK. Indeed we welcome moves to introduce an international ban on human reproductive cloning, and will work with the UN to carry this forward.
I welcome this seminar, which will be an important opportunity to take forward consideration of these very significant issues. I am looking forward to hearing the outcome of these debates.
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