Balancing ethical concerns with fighting diseases

It is in the nature of scientific research that it tests ethical boundaries. The exploration of animal and human life itself is frequently controversial, so the 7th framework programme (FP7) will be subject, like its predecessors, to ethical constraints. Currently, any applications for cash to fund sensitive areas of research are screened by a panel of independent experts. Examples of sensitive areas include research requiring the use of non-human primates, experiments on cloning farm animals and, perhaps most controversial of all, embryonic stem-cell research.

Opinions on the acceptability of embryonic stem-cell research vary widely in the EU. A growing number of people are keen to embrace the potential breakthroughs that it could offer in the form of treatments for debilitating diseases such as Parkinson’s. But others, often influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, are wary of research that they believe creates and destroys human life.

A final deal on funding stem-cell research under FP7 was almost scuppered last July when a number of member states with ethical objections threatened to form a blocking majority. An uneasy compromise was reached, with lead opponent Germany agreeing to the deal on condition that scientists would not be allowed EU cash to extract cells from human embryos.

EU scientists will now be able to apply for FP7 grants to fund research using cells sourced from national or other sources. Critics charge that the new rules would be more restrictive than those currently in force under the sixth framework programme. But EU scientists are still in a less constrained position than their US counterparts. Shortly before the compromise in the Council of Ministers, the US government froze an expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research in Congress, raising the prospect of a possible brain drain towards the EU.

Under FP6, applications for funding for stem-cell research have been limited (of the 330 proposals submitted to the ethical review process, only eight involved stem cells). With new breakthroughs on the horizon, however, this figure could grow under FP7.

It is in the nature of scientific research that it tests ethical boundaries. The exploration of animal and human life itself is frequently controversial, so the 7th framework programme (FP7) will be subject, like its predecessors, to ethical constraints. Currently, any applications for cash to fund sensitive areas of research are screened by a panel of independent experts. Examples of sensitive areas include research requiring the use of non-human primates, experiments on cloning farm animals and, perhaps most controversial of all, embryonic stem-cell research.