Japan's embryo experts beg for faster ethical reviews

摘要

Zealous review committees are crippling Japanese research on human embryonic stem cells, according to a plea about to be lodged at the country's science ministry. Japan is a world leader in embryonic stem-cell research involving mice and monkeys, but work involving human cell lines is another matter. That is because review committees regularly take far longer to approve such projects than other countries do, researchers charge. Norio Nakatsuji of Kyoto University will send anecdotal data about Japan's lag to the science ministry this month, with a request to simplify the system. "We cannot wait long, because already Japan is greatly behind other countries," he says.