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MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
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The House of Commons has voted to relax the law on human embryo research into degenerative diseases. MPs passed an amendment to the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act to allow scientists to harvest stem cells from early-stage embryo to grow tissue for research. Stem cells offer a way to produce new tissue or cells, growing to become any part of the body. They can be taken from adults. The best know example is bone marrow transplantation, a comman and convenient source of blood stem cells. This type of treatment is already being assessed in clinical trials to determine whether it is effective in MS. They can also be obtained from foetal tissue and embryos. These types of stem cells can develop into many more of the different cell types in our bodies. This opens up the possibility of replacing tissues which have become damaged or diseased in a wide range of disorders. In MS, the replacement of myelin making cells (oligodendrocytes) and damaged or lost nerve fibres (axons) is a big research goal. Until now, the law governing the use of human embryonic cells has only allowed research into infertility. As research into embryo stem cells in animals has opened up the possibility of treating many different diseases, a change in the law is needed to allow research into other uses. Many organisation including the British Medical Associsation, the Nuffield Council for Bioethics and the Association of Medical Research Charities supported the change to allow research which could have relevance to condition such as heart disease, cancer, Parkinson`s Disease and and MS
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