The project, which is taking place during 2008, will develop public dialogue activities around the science and social and ethical issues of stem cell research. The aim is to provide an understanding of views and concerns among diverse groups, including scientists, which can feed into policy makers’ strategic decision making. It will also provide a good foundation on which to build an ongoing plan of dialogue and communication activities.
The main part of the public dialogue activities has now been completed. Members of the public took part in a series of three workshops which started in March 2008. Each set of workshops was carried out simultaneously in London, Cardiff, Bristol, Newcastle and Edinburgh. Over 200 members of the public took part. Each workshop had a different focus including: sources of stem cells, and the clinical applications of stem cells (e.g. their use for: basic research purposes; clinical purposes; drug development and oncology). There were also discussions on banking and governance of clinical grade stem cell lines.
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Results
In addition to the public dialogue, 45 'expert interviews' comprising of scientists, policymakers, clinicians and ethicists has also been carried out.
This will be combined with the public dialogue and the analysis is due to be completed by the end of July 2008.
The research councils and BMRB will then launch the findings in early autumn 2008.
