Controversial plans for the UK’s first stem cell bank are expected to be given the go-ahead in mid-September. The idea of a stem cell bank was originally put forward by the Royal Society – an influential UK body of scientists – in March 2000. The bank, which would be run by the country’s Medical Research Council (MRC), is expected to hold both adult and embryonic stem cell lines. The MRC is holding a conference on “Stem cells: prospects for research and therapy” in London on the 11th September, and it is expected that plans for the bank will be announced then.
The news about the plans for the stem cell bank came at the same time a British research team from King’s College London led by American scientist Dr Stephen Minger, announced that they had become the first in the UK to grow human embryonic stem cells. The UK government has agreed that scientists can grow embryos up to the age of 14 days for the purpose of harvesting embryonic stem cells from them.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 28th August 2002
