News,

Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in London have begun clinical trials of a treatment using adult stem cells taken from a patient's bone marrow to treat liver damage. Deaths from liver disease have doubled in a decade in the UK and there is a shortage of available donor organs. The initial trial is intended to test the safety of the procedure before moving into the second phase of the treatment which will monitor the technique's ability to reverse liver damage. [BBC, 23 May]

A report on end-of-life care compiled for Help the Aged is to be published tomorrow, The Times of London reports. The report makes a number of recommendations including improving access to palliative care and involving elderly people in decisions about the care that they receive. [The Times, 24 May]

President Bush has said that he will veto a bill to allow researchers to use federal funds to study human embryonic stem cell lines. The bill is co-sponsored by Michael N. Castle and Diana L. DeGette. [Chemical and Engineering News, 23 May] Cardinal William H. Keeler, chairman of the US Catholic Bishops Committee for Pro-Life Activities, described destructive embryo research as 'killing in the name of "progress".' Cardinal Keeler pointed out that the potential of embryonic stem cell research has been exaggerated and that adult stem cell research is already offering promising therapies. [USA Today, 24 May]

The Guardian newspaper published a debate for and against embryonic stem cell research in its Saturday edition. The written debate was between Nigel Cameron, the president of the Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Robin Lovell-Badge, an embryologist and stem-cell researcher at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in London. [The Guardian, 21 May]

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