'Body repair kit' becomes a reality

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN. 23. Britain moved closer to the frontiers of medical research as science triumphed over a powerful lobby of religious conservatism in the House of Lords on Monday night to approve a controversial legislation on cloning of human embryos as a step towards finding cure for severe illnesses like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and cancer. At present, such research is permitted only for fertility purposes.

Geneticists would now be able to grow human tissues from stem cells for individual parts of the body and prepare what experts described as virtually a ``body repair kit'' which can be used to repair diseased tissues. If the research is successful it would become possible to mend a defective or diseased tissue without having to remove it or go in for a transplant.

Scientists hailed it as a major step forward in genetic research which could revolutionise medicine and eliminate the need for transplant operations. They anticipated new era in medicine where diseased or defective tissues could be ``mended in situ rather than being cut out and replaced with someone else's organs,'' as one expert explained.

The House of Lords approved the proposals by an overwhelming majority even as ``pro-life'' groups protested outside and their supporters inside the House voted against the move calling it an affront to the ``sanctity'' of life. They feared that it would open the floodgates for genetic engineering, leading to serious consequences.

The critics of the move were concerned about its ``ethics'' and warned against the temptation to play God in the name of research. One member said that the legislation would reduce human embyros to ``just another accessory to be created, bartered, frozen or destroyed.'' The attack was led by a coalition of religious groups, including Christian, Jewish and Muslims.

The Government assured that the legislation allowed research only for ``therapeutic'' purposes, and agreed to a select committee to monitor it.

The research would be strictly regulated and the ban on reproductive cloning of human beings would continue; in other words attempts to produce a human version of the sheep ``Dolly'' would not be permitted. The proposals were approved by a majority of 212 votes to 92 after a long and heated debate on the issue, with critics accusing the Government of imposing its ``ill-judged biotechnology agenda'' on the country.

Supporters, however, welcomed it as a timely move saying a delay would have been a blow to those suffering from

serious and seemingly incurable diseases.

The Health Minister, Lord Hunt, said that while ``we owe a measure of respect to the embryo, we also owe a measure of respect to the millions of people living with these devastating illnesses and millions who have yet to show signs of them.''

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Section  : International
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