BioWorld International Correspondent

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union on Monday released a new report on human embryonic stem cell research, aimed at putting more information into current European debates on the subject, and taking some of the heat out of them. It examines the potential benefits of human stem cell research, and the pros and cons of using stem cells from different sources.

The report, from officials in the European Commission, is one of the key inputs for a high-level seminar of EU ministers, parliamentarians, officials and experts planned for April 24, when the EU is aiming to move further on the sensitive question of whether the EU should fund stem cell research.

The report reviews the characteristics of stems cells and the various sources available, the potential application of human stem cell research, the current state of the art in human embryonic stem cell research, and the advantages and limitations of the various sources of human stem cells. But it goes wider, looking at socioeconomic aspects and at the way human embryonic stem cell research is regulated - in terms of ethics, and in terms of the current and upcoming rules in the EU member states and the countries due to join the EU next year.

The Commission's report also makes a distinction between groups of stem cells on the basis of their origin and method of derivation: human embryonic stem cells, which can be derived from a preimplantation embryo at the blastocyst stage; human embryonic germ cells, which can be isolated from the primordial germ cells of the fetus; and human somatic stem cells, which can be isolated from adult or fetal tissues or organs or from umbilical cord blood.

There is a largely positive appreciation in the report of this type of research. "Stem cell research is one of the promising areas of biotechnology, which offers the prospect of developing new methods to repair or replace tissues or cells damaged by injuries or diseases and to treat serious chronic diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease," it said. "Stem cell research is expected to be equally important for basic science, as well as for the understanding of disease development and for the development of safer and more effective drugs."

But the report does recognize the sensitivity of ethical questions about the use of stem cells derived from human embryos.

The question of how to decide on EU funding for projects involving research with human embryonic stem cells was left open in the decision-making process when the EU agreed last year on its 2003-06 research program. The agreement then was that the EU Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the European Commission should decide on the issue during 2003, in light of views from experts in the field.

But the EU claims it is not jumping the gun. "This report and the forthcoming seminar are not about establishing EU legislation on ethical questions," said European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin as he released the report. Regulating ethical matters is something the 15 EU member states are entitled to decide for themselves, he stressed. "In Europe, we have a legitimate diversity of rules and ethical frameworks in the field of human embryonic stem cell research."

Later this year the Commission intends to propose guidelines to the Council and Parliament for deciding on EU funding of research projects involving the use of human embryos and human embryonic stem cell.