I have been a member of the bio-ethics group since 1999 and I was one of the 60 strong ad hoc committee which was given the task of drawing up ethical guidelines for embryonic stem cell research in 2000-01. I was intimately involved in developing the guidelines, which pitted industry against ethics. These are like oil and water and do not mix. The scientists said to us that they do not make the laws, that we should make them and they will work within them. At the end of a year's debate among a very mixed group, from the far left to the far right, a political conclusion was reached. We have a very small pot of public money. It is European law not to finance in the area of research what is illegal in one member state. There are absolutely no positive results from the use of embryonic stem cells. They are, in fact, considered high risk. However, there are positive results from the use of adult stem cells, therefore, let us as a Community place the small pot of money we have where it is legally within the limits of the Union and where there is certainly as much hope and more positive proof of developments in adult stem cell research.