THE European Parliament’s vote to stop stem cells being harvested from embryos and ban therapeutic cloning has spread dismay among many biomedical researchers (see “US wolves left out in the cold”). With luck, that decision will be rejected by the Council of Ministers later this year.
Most disturbing are the extreme views dominating this debate. On one side, the parliament’s decision appears to have been led by “pro-life” MEPs who will never be persuaded that medical research on a human embryo is justified, not even if the embryo would otherwise be discarded. Their assertion that anyone sanctioning this research…
