Irish Council for Bioethics: stem cell report: EMBRYONIC STEM cells remain the "gold standard" of human cells for research purposes, an Irish Council for Bioethics (IBC) report to be published today argues.
The report says valuable research with adult stem cells is currently being conducted in Ireland and elsewhere.
But, it notes, such research is still at an early stage of development, meaning that embryonic stem cells will be required for scientific purposes under strictly controlled circumstances.
Recent research with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) has allowed scientists to make adult cells mimic embryonic stem cells, giving rise to the hope that the use of embryonic stem cells will no longer be required.
With iPS, researchers reprogramme an ordinary skin cell and get it to transform into a cell which is virtually identical to an embryonic skin cell.
To do this, they introduce several genes that are carried into the cell by a virus.
In its report, the council notes that this process "holds considerable promise" and may well represent the "least morally offensive approach" in the future.
However, while this field is moving at a "breathtaking pace", it says that it will require significant extra research to examine whether the cells which it produces will differentiate "as stably and diversely as embryonic stem cells".
There are also safety concerns about adult stem cells which need to be addressed, it notes.
"[If] adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells currently offered exactly the same possibilities and were equal in all other respects . . . then research using adult stem cells would be preferred.
"This is not currently the case . . . the consensus of those scientists working with iPS cells is that further research comparing these dedifferentiated cells with stem cells from embryos, considered the gold standard, is necessary."
Research using adult stem cells has received the support of Pope Benedict, while the Irish Bishops' Conference has previously recommended that the EU should give significant funding to this type of research.
The Catholic Church, however, opposes research using cells from embryos.
Elsewhere, the IBC report acknowledges fears that the creation of cloned "human-animal hybrids" for stem cell research could lead to a "slippery slope" and more radical research involving fertilising the eggs of one species with the sperm of another. But it argues that the creation of human-animal hybrid cell lines - which would arise only if a future decision was first taken to allow embryos to be created specifically for research - would "obviate concerns relating to coercion and exploitation of women".
As a result, should such a decision be taken, the council says it would have "no principled objection" to the creation of such cell lines.
This should only be done in strictly limited circumstances, however.
The council received almost 2,200 responses from interested individuals to a questionnaire which it developed as part of its public consultation process.
It received submissions from a range of stakeholders, including representatives of the different faiths, the Pro Life campaign, Youth Defence, the Medical Council, the Bar Council and the Irish Fertility Society.
Seven out of 10 respondents to the questionnaire said they did not think it was acceptable for embryos produced during IVF treatment to be used for stem cell research in Ireland, while 65 per cent said they would be unwilling to use medical treatments that were developed using embryonic stem cells.