M A I N   N E W S

Ethical issues involved in stem cell
research: ICMR chief

Hyderabad, February 20
A day after a United Nation’s committee resolved to ban “all forms of human cloning”, India’s topmost medical administrator today cautioned that stem cell research in this country, though having a huge potential, is riddled with “ethical, environmental, religious, cultural and political” factors.

A large number of ethical and religious questions were involved in stem cell research, the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr N.K. Ganguly, said in his keynote address on “Stem cell research — Indian and global scenario” at a symposium on molecular medicine and health, which began here today.

Numerous consultations were needed and public opinion had to be ascertained on ethical standards, besides building an informed consensus on stem cell research in India, he told mediapersons later.

The four-day symposium is being attended by 650 delegates, including from the USA, UK, Germany and Europe.

The issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) on biological substances was still not clear in India, especially whether cell lines could be made available with adequate and appropriate safeguards. “Let the IPR issue on human cell lines be known, then we can look into the therapeutic aspects,” Dr Ganguly said.

The Law Ministry was vetting the ethical guidelines on biomedical research cleared by the Union Health Ministry. It is likely to cleared in the near future and them it would be the duty of the Drug Controller of India to regulate biomedical research.

The British were the “most liberal” with regard to stem cell research. They permitted research on cells from embryos, which were 14 days old. This had been incorporated in the Indian guidelines currently being debated.

A national regulatory body had to oversee and monitor stem cell research in India, as it was still contentious. The technology should not be hijacked for “sex determination and commercialisation” as the major source for stem cells in India were still fertility clinics and in-vitro (test tube) procedures, he cautioned.

Stating that more cell lines were needed for research, he said umbilical cord blood cells could be a good option in the search for new technology. But storage of “cold blood is a major problem under the initiative, was though China and Korea have two huge cold blood banks. We have a huge market (in India) but we will have to build capacity and put regulatory mechanisms in place.” — UNI