January 13, 2009

experts comment on stem cell funding story

The story, which appeared in the Independent newspaper, suggested that two applications for funding to do research on human-animal hybrid embryos may have been turned down because of moral objections.

Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council, said:

“The suggestion made in the Independent newspaper that stem cell research is under threat or that funding has halted is erroneous and misleading. Stem cell research holds great promise and is receiving more funding than ever before from the Medical Research Council (MRC) – over £25.5 million in 2007/08. But the MRC must make the best use of taxpayers’ money and there is no better way to decide what should be funded than to use tried-and-tested peer review systems where scientists assess applications on their merits. This system, as operated, rules out the possibility of a personal moral view influencing the final outcome of a proposal.

“Overall, the MRC funds about one in five applications it receives. The process is extremely rigorous and all funded proposals are of an internationally competitive standard. All applicants – whether or not they are successful – receive the anonymised referees’ comments.

“The MRC was instrumental in ensuring that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act allowed for the possibility of using admixed embryos in research. Clearly, we believe there may well be great potential for this avenue of research. Fighting for the right to carry out such research does not mean that it should get priority over other applications which score higher and hold more promise.”

Prof Robin Lovell-Badge, Head of Division, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, said:

“As is always the case, getting a grant for scientific research accepted can be difficult. It’s a complex and competitive process, and there isn’t always enough money to go round making it impossible to fund every application. There are many reasons why a particular grant may not be awarded, and it’s very difficult to comment further without knowing the specific reasons as to why an individual application was not successful.”

Colin Miles, Head of Integrative and Systems Biology Sector, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), said:

“Human-animal hybrid embryo research is a promising area and we hope that it will contribute significantly to successful stem-cell research in the future. However, all requests for funding from the Research Councils must be peer reviewed to ensure we use the public’s money to fund excellent science. Having a HFEA licence to conduct a certain type of research does not automatically entitle researchers to funding. They must still compete for funding based on scientific excellence and strategic impact and the potential of the project to add significantly to the body of knowledge in that area. The competition for funding is very high indeed and many very good applications don’t get funded purely and simply because the pot of money available is finite.

“BBSRC welcomes applications from researchers, where it is relevant to our mission and remit, to work on human-animal embryos.”