§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the institutions being considered to host the National Human Stem Cell Bank; and when he will make a decision. [66088]
§ Ms BlearsThe recommendation to establish a stem cell bank came from the Chief Medical Officer's expert group (the Donaldson Committee) in 2000. Since then the Medical Research Council (MRC) has been making progress in establishing the national stem cell bank and invited interested centres to tender in March 2002.
As the process of considering bids is, as yet, incomplete, it is not possible to provide a list of those under consideration.
The MRC is expected to make an announcement about the location of the bank later this year.