In a letter dated 7/12/2018, this organisation stated: “Guts UK funds laboratory-based, transitional and clinical research and some of the projects we support could use embryonic tissue, more likely stem cells derived from embryos. As an organisation we do not have a policy that precludes the use of embryonic tissue provided that the researcher and the institution adhere to all relevant regulation and legislation”.

The letter included comments from a researcher funded by Guts UK:

“…future studies on developing embryonic tissue will be critical to improve our understanding of how the gut develops and it’s clear that animal models are not 100% comparable.

“Other research groups that we collaborate with do indeed use human embryonic stem cells, stable cell lines, so they are not isolated from embryos on an on-going basis.” Member of the AMRC.