DFG Gives Embryo Research a Boost

STEM CELLS

Science, 11 May 2001

Sabine Steghaus-Kovac^*

BONN--Germany's main research funding agency issued new guidelines last week paving the way for researchers to import human embryonic stem (ES) cells from other countries. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) also recommended that Parliament pass a law, if needed, that would allow German researchers to derive their own stem cell lines from surplus embryos from in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. "The new guidelines are an important step ahead," says Oliver Brüstle, a stem cell researcher at Bonn University. "This is more than we hoped for 1 year ago."

But scientists hoping to start working with these cells may still have to wait. Germany's Research Ministry has asked the DFG to postpone funding for a proposal Brüstle has submitted--the only research project proposed to date that would use imported ES cells--to allow more time for discussion. Social Democrats and opposition politicians, as well as church officials categorically opposed to research involving human embryos, quickly assailed the new guidelines.

Currently, Germany's Embryo Protection Act allows researchers to harvest stem cells from aborted fetuses but not from blastocysts, embryos that are 4 to 7 days old. The new guidelines, unveiled by DFG president Ernst- Ludwig Winnacker and endorsed unanimously by the agency's 39-member senate, allow DFG-funded scientists to import ES cells derived legally in foreign labs from surplus IVF embryos. That's a big change from the DFG's initial guidance on ES cell research, issued in March 1999, which counseled scientists to avoid doing research on human ES cells. The DFG has also recommended that an independent commission examine the ethics of research projects involving human ES cells in both publicly and privately funded labs.

If the import of ES cells does not satisfy scientific demand, the DFG recommends that Parliament amend the 10-year-old Embryo Protection Act to allow German researchers to derive their own ES cells from surplus IVF embryos for 5 years. The creation of human embryos solely for use in research, as well as therapeutic cloning--in which a nucleus of a somatic cell is transferred into an enucleated egg cell--would remain off limits.

Last February, the DFG established a 6-year, $2.3 million program to explore the value of human stem cells of all kinds for cell and tissue transplantation. Nearly all researchers who have received grants under this program work on adult stem cells or on animal models. Only Brüstle's team has applied for funding for the use of imported human ES cells. His group wants to explore how neural precursors can be cultivated from human ES cells and purified from other cell types. This would follow up on work in which Brüstle transformed mouse ES cells into functional neural cells.

The DFG has not yet approved Brüstle's project, which was submitted for funding 10 months ago. He had hoped for a decision last week, but after the guidelines were unveiled, the Research Ministry announced that it would urge the DFG to postpone a decision on Brüstle's application. "The far-reaching changes suggested by [the DFG] need to be discussed broadly in science and society," said research minister Edelgard Bulmahn. She has suggested that the National Ethics Council, a new body appointed on 2 May by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, examine the ethical and legal framework for research on human ES cells before any project proceeds.

Officially, the DFG is not bound by the Research Ministry's directives. But federal and state governments provide the bulk of the DFG's budget, and government representatives make up almost half the agency's grants committee. German researchers are watching with interest to see how the DFG responds.

Sabine Steghaus-Kovac is a science writer in Frankfurt.

Category: 31. Stem Cells