Munich

Germany's stem-cell debate took a decisive turn on 30 January, when the parliament voted to let researchers use a limited number of human embryonic stem-cell lines.

The 340–265 vote got a cautious reception from researchers, some of whom are concerned about restrictions in the new law.

Germany will now permit embryonic stem-cell lines created before 30 January 2002 to be imported. Only research on projects that are ranked as a high priority by a new regulatory body will be allowed.

The regulator will ensure that permission is obtained from the parents of the embryo from which the cell line was extracted, and that there are no alternative means of doing the research. Applications will have to be vetted by a new national ethics committee.

The DFG, Germany's main research funding agency, announced last May that it was willing to fund research on stem cells. German law bans the creation (though not the import) of human embryonic stem cells for research purposes. But the DFG chose to delay funding until parliament had debated the issue (see Nature 411, 875; 2001).

Despite the restrictions in the new law, its passage was welcomed by Oliver Brüstle and Otmar Wiestler, the University of Bonn neuroscientists whose application for DFG funding helped spark the debate. Their grant to study the production of neural precursor cells from stem cells was approved the day after the parliamentary decision, but will remain frozen until the law comes into effect. Science minister Edelgard Buhlmann hopes that this will be before the summer.

“The ice is broken,” says Brüstle. “We would have preferred a more liberal solution, but the new rules are helpful, provided they will not be used to create further delays.” German researchers should have ready access to all the lines listed in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) registry, he says.

Günter Stock, head of research at Berlin-based pharmaceutical company Schering and a vocal supporter of stem-cell research, says, “It is the smallest possible yes, but I am grateful to parliament for the vote.” Schering is not yet involved in stem-cell research, but Stock says it will consider cooperating with academic groups or start-up companies as soon as therapies are in sight.

The decision parallels that taken by US President George W. Bush last August, when he ruled that government funds could only be used to pay for research on stem-cell lines already in existence (see Nature 412, 665; 2001). A subsequent survey by the NIH found that 72 lines held by 11 academic institutions and corporations met the criteria.

Wolfgang-Michael Franz, a cardiologist at the University of Munich who has applied for support for a project using stem cells, says that only about 10 of the lines on the NIH list are suitable for research — and that this number has not grown since last summer.