France sets up agency for medical bioethics

PARIS (AFP) - France inaugurated a specialised agency for approving research on embryonic stem cells and vetting organ donations and other bioethics issues.

The creation of the Biomedicine Agency follows up on a new law, approved by parliament last August and due to take effect this month.

Under it, French health scientists will be permitted to draw on the country's stock of tens of thousands of surplus embryos in order to create lines of stem cells.

These embryos were created years ago through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to help infertile couples, but are no longer wanted and remain in freezers in fertility clinics.

Stem cells are immature cells that are like blank slates. In this early state, they have yet to differentiate into the specific cells that make up the body's tissues.

The goal among scientists is to harvest these cells and coax them into growing into fresh, replacement tissue which can then be transplanted into the body to reverse brain, nerve, muscle and organ damage.

The most versatile stem cells come from embryos that are a few days old. These...