Ireland ‘left out of the loop’ on pioneering stem cell research

BLOOD banks could be transformed by a scientific breakthrough that enables human skin cells to be converted directly into blood.

But Irish scientists have warned the process, still in the very early stages of testing, can’t be explored here because there is no legislation governing this kind of research.

The Irish Stem Cell Foundation welcomed the breakthrough by the McMaster University in Canada where researchers hope the technique could initially be used to treat leukaemia patients with blood cells created from their own skin.