A clinical trial for a ‘groundbreaking’ stem-cell therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis is under way in the UK. This is part of an international trial, but there are other trials taking place too, in London and Nottingham. However, the interesting and hopeful news about these trials is that they will be based on stem cells taken from the patients’ own bone marrow, and therefore it appears that the trials are to be conducted in an ethical manner.
Indirectly, although not immediately, related to this news item is the report from the UK Department of Health that IVF procedures in that country have resulted in the death of over one and a half million embryonic children. This shows that more than 30 embryos are brought into being for every one live birth through IVF. This means that since 1991, just over 94,000 births were registered following IVF, but all the other embryos were discarded, destroyed in research, and frozen. 
