An ethics committee for Kyoto University on Sunday approved a professor's proposal to study the creation of embryonic stem cells from fertilized human ova, making the university the first Japanese institute to launch such research, panel members said.
Professor Norio Nakatsuji of the university's Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences is expected to launch the study as early as next March. The cells can grow into any of the organs or tissues of the human body and are considered the key to regeneration medicine.
Nakatsuji plans to begin providing the human embryonic stem cells for free to other domestic institutes later next year for research purposes. Three Japanese hospitals have proposed supplying the professor with fertilized human ova.