JAPAN PERSPECTIVE: ES cells debate reveals cultural gap.

Researchers across the nation, including at Kyoto University, are set to launch full-scale research into embryonic stem cells (ES) in response to guidelines announced by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry last year.

ES cells, which are created by cultivating cells extracted from embryos containing fertilized eggs, may be used in a variety of tissues and organs.

Yet since the process requires the destruction of embryos responsible for giving life, the ethics of such research has been called into question.

Germany and France have banned the production of ES cells. Although the United States has not prohibited it, the U.S. federal government is banned from funding such research, …