Ministry to widen ban on stem cell research

In a pre-emptive move to avert a debate over ethics, the education ministry will temporarily ban research to produce reproductive cells from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, sources said.

The ministry is expected to make a formal decision when it convenes its Bioethics and Biosafety Commission under the Council for Science and Technology on Friday.

The versatile stem cells, the creation of a Kyoto University team of researchers, are produced from human skin, thereby averting ethical issues surrounding the use of human eggs or embryos. Research on iPS has progressed since the team, led by Shinya Yamanaka, professor of stem cell biology, announced the creation of the stem cells, first with mice, in 2006.

Reproductive research into iPS and embryonic stem (ES) cells is said to focus on three stages: the creation of egg cells and sperm cells; insemination of egg cells; and embedding the resulting embryo into the uterus.

Research at all three stages is banned for ES cells in Japan.

While production of iPS cells does not involve destroying fertilized eggs, as in the case with ES cells, the ministry decided to apply the same regulations.

However, there are calls for making exceptions on certain research that would allow scientists to determine whether reproductive cells created from iPS cells are capable of fertilization. Debate has already started for a partial lifting of a ban on such research.

The outcome of the debate may lead to a review of regulations on iPS cell use.

Concerns over creating reproductive cells from iPS cells arise from suggestions that such tinkering could lead to human cloning. But others argue that reproductive research involving iPS cells could prove effective in studying the causes of infertility and sterility.(IHT/Asahi: January 30,2008)