Above: Nassau (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A national task force on stem cell therapy in the Bahamas has recommended that embryonic stem cells not be used to create human stem cells in the country.

Embryonic cells are those that derive from a five-day embryo or earlier. They have the ability to become any cell in the body.

Adult stem cells are smaller in quantity and can be found in most tissue and organ systems.

“Recognizing that we are on the frontiers of new science, so the appropriate clinical trials, the appropriate committees, the appropriate ethics support should be given to the use of these areas,” said Professor Arthur T Porter, chairman of the task force.

The task force had been appointed by the government in November to develop a series of recommendations on the possible use of stem cell therapy in the country.

It also examined how adult stem cells would be used.

The force also found that reproductive cloning should not be permitted.

Porter said that legislation in the Bahamas must be “robust enough to protect the integrity and the reputation of the country while at the same time promoting good science.”

“We need to make sure the laws are constantly keeping up with what is happening on the ground,” he said.

The force will reportedly present the report to Cabinet early next year.