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Expecting a spurt in research activity involving human embryonic stem cells, the department of biotechnology is stepping up measures to strictly enforce guidelines to thwart possible commercialisation of human embryos.
A senior DBT official Virender Kumar Vinayak said existing guidelines framed by the Indian Council of Medical Research would be made enforceable by law.
These guidelines aim to prevent violation of human ethics, streamline foreign collaborations in this field and have safeguards against commercial exploitation of embryo research.
These guidelines were formulated following reports that the National Centre for Biological Science in Bangalore and Reliance Life Sciences possess embryonic stem cells that could become available for research in the United States.
Vinayak made it clear that transfer of embryonic cell lines from India to researchers abroad would be subject to clearance by the bioethics committee under the DBT.
A proper consent from the donor of the embryo and commitments to share with the donor any profits arising from the use of the embryo are prerequisites for obtaining the clearance.
Vinayak said he expects at least three more institutions to join this stem cell bandwagon in next few months.
These are the National Centre for Cell Science in Pune, Bharat Biotech International, a private company in Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad that is already working on adult stem cells may be entering into research using human embryonic cells, a senior CCMB scientist said.
While DBT would fully back collaborative ventures with advanced countries for developing stem cell based therapies, the guidelines were meant to protect the rights of Indian study subjects as well as the Indian scientific community, Vinayak said.
India has the potential to become to an embryo surplus nation, as abortion is not illegal and there is also no ban on the use of 14-day old embryos.
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