French authorise embryonic stem cell lines:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The development of new diagnostics and medicines are two of the reasons cited by the French Research Minister, Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg, for authorising the import of two embryonic stem cell lines on May 3, three days before the government stepped down following the re-election of President Jacques Chirac. His successor will have to confirm or revoke the authorisation, which was made after the lower house of parliament agreed on the principle of research on such cells when it passed the bioethics bill. The bill is unlikely to become law until 2003, but the ready availability to French researchers of the stem cell lines is intended to help speed matters.