Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Drayson (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 March 2010.

Embryology

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patient-specific human pluripotent stem cells have been derived in the United Kingdom by means of (a) direct reprogramming with Yamanaka's factors to yield induced pluripotent stem cells, (b) embryonic stem cell derivation following somatic cell nuclear transfer, and (c) traditional Chinese medicine; and what is the average level of funding per individual grant or principal investigator that they have provided towards each of those approaches, via the research councils or by other means.

Answer: The Government and the research councils do not collect information on the numbers of patient-specific human pluripotent stem cells that have been derived in the UK. The Medical Research Council (MRC) funds a wide spectrum of stem cell research supporting a range of approaches. This includes research on induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, some of which may involve the derivation of stem cells lines from patients to study disease using a range of technologies, including Yamanaka factors and subsequent developments. The MRC does not currently support any research which aims to derive patient-specific stem cells by human somatic cell nuclear transfer or through the use of traditional Chinese medicine.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2446; 718 c73-5WA
Session: 2009-10
Related items: Embryology
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Clones Complementary medicine Finance Human embryo experiments Research Stem cells
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk