Officials Track Down Pandemic Flu Samples

Abstract

South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and China are fast turning into major centers for stem cell research, both because Asian countries in general take a different view on the moral status of the human embryo and because they seem able to allocate the necessary funds. In addition, generous funding is materializing for stem cell research in some parts of the United States, such as in California. Other states, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Wisconsin, are considering whether to do the same. In February, concerned that early advances made in the UK could be overtaken by researchers abroad, leading UK scientists andentrepreneurs called for the creation of a charitable foundation with a fund of some $200 million to ensure the UK’s position as a leader in the field. In mid-March, Britain’s government announced a 10-year plan to develop a national stem cell research network. Richard Gardner, PhD, chairman of the Royal Society working group on stem cell research and cloning, said most funding for stem cell research in the UK comes from either government-funded research councils or biomedical research charities such as the Wellcome Trust. Gardner characterized the European Commission as a “very minor” source of funds, “having a reputation for being both slow in decision making and extremely bureaucratic.” Christine Mummery, PhD, head of the stem cell group at the Hubrecht Laboratory in Utrecht, the Netherlands, said that the Netherlands has an “excellent legal and ethical climate for stem cell research, albeit the financial situation leaves much to be desired.” Although the Strasbourg, France–based European Science Foundation initiated a program on stem cells, no project involving human embryonic stem cell research was eventually accepted, she noted, prompting her to look for support elsewhere. “The EU has not yet proven to be a real alternative source of funds,” she said, adding that the “divided politics among member states [makes] it unclear whether in practice there is a hidden agenda.” “There is a risk that Christian conservative EU nations will use their political influence to discourage other nations from establishing research programs in this field,” said Arne Sunde, PhD, president of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Beigem, Belgium). “This has led us into a situation where the EU has great difficulty in allocating funds for research on embryonic stem cells, leaving it likely to be seriously underfunded.” Because of strong Christian conservative political influence in many Western countries, Sunde argued, it is likely that the essential development of the next era of medicine—regenerative medicine—“will take place elsewhere,” with Asia “the most likely area for pioneering development.”