Select Committee on Science and Technology Written Evidence

Annex A

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER'S EXPERT GROUP ON STEM CELL RESEARCH

TERMS OF REFERENCE:

—  To establish the extent to which there is a current research focus on therapeutic cloning including stem cell studies, when developments are likely to arise and where they could lead;

—  To assess the anticipated benefits of such research; the potential risks; and any alternative approaches that might be pursued to achieve the same benefits;

—  In the light of the assessed benefits, risks and alternatives to consider whether there are any ethical and social implications beyond those addressed by the HFEA/HGAC Report, Cloning Issues in Reproduction, Science and Medicine;

—  To advise whether regulations need to be made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 to extend the purposes for which the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority may issue licences for research involving human embryos;

—  To advise on whether any additional regulation of the use of embryonic cell lines (such as stem cells) is required.

MEMBERSHIP:

Professor Liam Donaldson	Chief Medical Officer, (Chair)
Professor David Baird	MRC Clinical Research Professor, Centre for Reproductive Biology, University of Edinburgh
Professor W F Blakemore	Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
Professor John Burn	Regional Genetics Service, Newcastle upon Tyne; member of the Human Genetics Commission
Professor Alastair Campbell	Professor of Ethics in Medicine, University of Bristol
Professor Dian Donnai	CMO's Consultant Advisor in Genetics, Regional Genetics Services, Manchester
Professor Martin Evans	Director and Professor Mammalian Genetics, Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University
Professor Brian Heap	Master of St Edmund's College, Cambridge
Professor David Linch	Department of Haematology, University College London
Sir Robert May	Government's Chief Scientific Adviser
Professor Sir Peter Morris	Nuffield Professor of Surgery, Oxford University
Mr Derek Morgan	Read in Law, Cardiff University
The Revd Dr John Polkinghorne	Member of the Human Genetics Commission; Chairman of the former Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing; member of the former Human Genetics Advisory Commission
Sir David Weatherall	Honorary Director Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford

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Prepared 5 April 2007