SPUC accuses Lords' committee of pro cloning bias

SPUC accuses Lords' committee of pro-cloning bias Westminster, --The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has expressed concern that a newly-appointed House of Lords committee will be biased in favour of permitting human cloning and stem cell research. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's political spokesman, said: "Only two of the 11 members of the select committee on human cloning and stem cell research voted against regulations to approve destructive research on cloned human embryos. "Any hope that the committee's membership would be balanced has fallen foul of the government's determination to suppress opposition to human cloning. However, we intend to work hard to redress the imbalance by providing peers with authoritative medical and scientific evidence. "The government cannot deny that rapid advances in adult stem cell research are making the case for cloning human embryos increasingly untenable." On the 23rd of last month the BBC website reported that American-based scientists working for PPL Therapeutics of Edinburgh had turned cow skin into heart muscle. It was stated that human adult tissue might similarly be reprogrammed, making embryo cell experimentation unnecessary. Of the committee's membership, only Baronesses Cumberlege and Platt voted against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001 in January. Five members of the committee supported the regulations while the other four peers did not vote. The BBC story about turning cow skin into heart muscle is at