The Australian parliament has given the go-ahead for medical research on human embryos. The controversial bill will enable researchers to harvest stem cells from approximately 70,000 embryos created for IVF treatment. The terms of the bill mean that the donors of embryos will have to give their consent on whether or not they can be used for research purposes. Australia’s legal stance on stem cell research is midway between that of the restrictive US laws, which limit research to pre-existing cell lines, and the far more lenient approach adopted by the UK, where embryos can be created purely for research purposes.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 5th December 2002
