New rules have given scientists working on stem cell research permission to use human tissue without the express consent of the individual it came from. The legislation, part of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, came into force on 1st October and covers material such as blood and tissue samples collected by the NHS during treatment and biopsies, and specimens from 'tissue banks' stored before the legislation was introduced.

According to the Act, such material can be used in somatic-cell nuclear transfers with human and non-human ova. Scientists are expected to gain explicit consent before obtaining samples but are permitted to use the material if the samples were taken before the 1st October 2009 and the donor cannot be contacted.

Joyce Robins, co-director of Patient Concern, expressed fear that most people would not be aware of the changes whilst Professor David Jones, director of the Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies, said that many may have donated to medical research in the past but would now be unaware that their tissue 'could be used to clone an embryo'. In a recent study, 50% of couples who stored embryos at fertility clinics could not be tracked down after 5 years. A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority stated that circumstances under which scientists wished to create hybrid embryos were 'very specific' and the chances of such a creation without explicit consent were still 'very small'. Licences permitting such embryos are still required to meet legal criteria and applications must be approved by an ethics committee before being granted.

(Lancet 2009;374:861-863, telegraph.co.uk 2009; 12 September)