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7 March 2005
The Scottish Council on Human Bioethics (SCHB) indicated, today, that it was very concerned about the possibility for the government to use part of the £ 1bn, announced today, on embryonic stem cell research.
This follows an announcement that the UK government will spend £ 1 bn on biotechnology by 2008, according to newly announced science plans.
In this respect, Dr. MacKellar indicated that "embryonic stem cell research remains ethically controversial and millions of people in the UK find the destruction of embryos for biomedical research very offensive adding that "funding should instead concentrate on the alternative and just as promising research taking place on stem cells obtained from adult bone marrow and umbilical cords."
Dr. MacKellar also stated that "Anything that would not involve the destruction of human embryos would be welcome by many ethics bodies" adding that "this kind of research would be acceptable to nearly 99% of UK society."