Irish scientists who want to work with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) got a boost today from the Supreme Court of Ireland, which held that human embryos outside the womb are not "unborn" and therefore are not protected under the constitution. The case before the court, in which a woman wanted implanting frozen embryos against the will of her former husband, does not directly concern the research on stem cells. "It is not a green light" for hESC research, says Siobhán O'Sullivan, Director of the Irish Council for Bioethics. However, she said the decision means "that certainly research on hES cells is not prohibited Ireland."
Ireland has no laws governing human embryos. Assisted reproduction and research with hESCs, which are derived from human embryos, are both unregulated. Scientists have been uncertain, however, whether the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which "recognizes the right to life of the unborn child" could prohibit the derivation of hESCs. public funding agencies were uncertain whether they should finance research using the cells.
O'Sullivan said that because of the legal vacuum, it is difficult to say how many hESC research is happening in Ireland. "If you use them, you would not want to publicize the fact," she said. But several scientists said they would work with the cells, and a handful have applied for public funding to do so.
In their decision, the judges urged the country's legislators to address the legal status of the embryo. O'Sullivan, said she and her colleagues called for the same thing. "The fact that the government has not yet settled this area is absolutely amazing and very unhappy indeed," she said. "It does not matter which side of the debate you sit on ;. What we have now is a territory cowboy "
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