New international guidelines for stem cell science

The first international guidelines on human embryonic stem cell research, released on Thursday, echo public opinion in calling for a ban on human reproductive cloning. But they are already proving controversial in other angles.

Although the guidelines are not legally binding, they carry the weight of leading scientific opinion and are likely to be influential in many countries.
Written by a committee of leading stem cell scientists, the guidelines take a permissive stance on two key issues: paying women to donate eggs for research, and controls on projects involving human/animal chimeras.

Guidelines issued in 2005 by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and laws in other countries, including the UK, prohibit using cash payments to induce women to donate eggs for research. But the new guidelines, issued by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), suggest that the question of payments should be left to local ethical committees.

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