Dispute over German law

As politicians cheer the 'success' of a controversial stem cell import law, scientists fume

Written byNed Stafford
| 3 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

German Research Minister Edelgard Bulmahn and Health Minister Ulla Schmidt issued a joint statement last week patting themselves on the back for what they described as the success of a new law that allows German researchers to import human embryonic stem cells. But not everyone in Germany's stem cell research community was patting along.

Stem cell researcher Jürgen Hescheler, head of the Institute of Neurophysiology at the University of Cologne, told The Scientist: "I would tell the ministers that they should go to the labs and speak with the basic scientists. They never spoke with us. I guess they just assumed the law was good."

Is he satisfied with the new law? "Definitely not," Hescheler said.

The two ministers issued their statement in conjunction with release of an 18-page "progress report" detailing the first 18 months of the law, which took effect July 1, 2002. After describing the law a ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Share
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Unchained Labs

Products

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies

Parse Logo

Parse Biosciences and Graph Therapeutics Partner to Build Large Functional Immune Perturbation Atlas

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform