Dr Stephen Minger, Director, Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, King's College London, said:

"Following on from our calls for a meeting, reported in The Times this morning, myself and a number of leading stem cell scientists have been approached today by Jim Devine MP who has offered to broker a meeting between the scientific community and Catholic MPs and Church leaders. The purpose of this meeting will be to clarify a number of scientific aspects of the fertility bill, and in particular why scientists need to pursue research using human admixed embryos. We have proved over the past year that we are more than happy to engage with the public and policy makers on these issues but we are concerned that society as a whole is allowed to have this important debate on the basis of good, accurate information."