The Cabinet´s bioethics panel rubber-stamped a set of conditions on stem cell research that is expected to be formally approved soon by the Science and Technology Agency, the Associated Press reported.
The guidelines stipulate that embryonic cells used in research would be taken only from those made for fertility treatment that would otherwise be discarded, said Takahiro Hayashi, an official of the Cabinet´s Council for Science and Technology Policy.
Research on cloning humans or creating sperm and ova would be strictly banned. Safeguards would be set up to protect private information and selling stem cells would be prohibited, Hayashi said. Stem cells are the building blocks for all human tissue.
