A group at Edinburgh University looking for a treatment for Parkinson´s disease and a team at Guy´s Hospital in London, investigating neural disorders, infertility and miscarriages, have had their applications approved.
This follows a House of Lords report this week which said the controversial stem cell research should go ahead.
The applications approved by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) are for basic research to develop techniques to handle embryonic material.
The clinics will only produce stem cell “lines” from “spare” embryos created for in vitro fertilization treatment, according to the HFEA. Critics point out that such “spare” embryos are, in fact, tiny human beings doomed to destruction.
