Irish Bishops have called on the EU to provide funding for research into adult stem cells in advance of a vote at the European Parliament later today on the funding of stem cell research.
The vote will kick-start wider debate on the issue within the European Commission and the European Council of Ministers.
In a statement last night, the Irish Bishop's Conference highlighted what it said were "the serious moral implications" of the vote, which could approve the funding of research on human embryos, that results in their destruction.
"A question of such profound moral and human significance should not be treated under the heading of research funding," the statement said.
"The crucial issue is that using a human embryo as an object of research is nothing short of destruction of human life."
The bishops recommended that the EU should give significant funding to research using adult stem cells.
"Adult stem cell research is very promising and has already led to positive clinical results. This type of stem cell research comes with none of the ethical difficulties associated with research on human embryos," the statement said.
"Ireland at European level, should take a lead in opposing the destruction of human embryos, which regrettably, it has not done so far."
Stem cells are a particular type of cell which can, technically speaking, become any other type of cell in the body.
There are two broad categories of stem cells: adult stem cells which can be taken from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and some other tissues and organs; and embryonic stem cells which are taken from embryos.
Public funding for stem cell research was supported in a poll carried out by the Irish Council for Bioethics last year.
In that survey, more than half of the respondents said the Government should fund embryonic stem cell research.
Some 54 per cent of those surveyed also said they would use new treatments for disease developed using embryonic stem cell research.
Embryonic stem cells were first discovered in 1998 and since then research has focused on how such cells can be coaxed into becoming heart, liver, bone or nerve cells.
As yet, there are no therapies derived from embryonic stem cell research although adult stem cells are used.
