Almost three years after announcing the Guidelines for Stem Cell Research Regulation, prescribing stringent procedures for souring and use of stem cells by research institutions in the country, the Union health ministry has finally constituted the much awaited National Apex Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (NAC-SCRT) for effectively reviewing and monitoring the stem cell research in the country. Dr Alok Srivastava of Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore will be the chairman of the committee.

Dr Vishwa Mohan Katoch, secretary, department of health research (DHR), said that a 12-member NAC under the chairmanship of Dr Alok Srivastava has been constituted and the same will be notified soon. The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) will act as the secretariat for the NAC. Senior Scientist at the ICMR Dr Vijay Kumar will be the member secretary of the NAC while another senior scientist at ICMR Dr Geeta Jotwani will represent ICMR in the NAC.

The chairman will be assisted by deputy chairman, member secretary and nominees from DBT, DST, CSIR, ICMR, DCGI, DAE, and biomedical experts drawn from various disciplines like pharmacology, immunology, cell biology, haematology, genetics, developmental biology, clinical medicine and nursing. There will be a legal expert, social scientist, and a women's representative in the NAC. In addition consultants/experts could be consulted for specific topics and advice.

Earlier, the health ministry had constituted a high-powered committee, consisting of senior officials like Dr Katoch and secretary Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Dr MK Bhan, to finalise the NAC.

The NAC will be a multidisciplinary body with a secretariat at ICMR which will have two main functions: general oversight and policy monitoring function; and to review specific controversial or ethically more sensitive research proposals. The committee will have the responsibility to examine the scientific, technical, ethical, legal and social issues in the area of stem cell based research and therapy.

All institutions involved in any type of stem cell research and therapy shall be registered with the NAC. Once the Apex Committee is in place, all institutions and investigators, both public and private, carrying out research on human stem cells should be registered with the NAC through Institutional Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (IC-SCRT).

The NAC will set up standards for safety and quality, quality control, procedures for collection and its schedule, processing or preparation, expansion, differentiation, preservation for storage, removal from storage to assure quality and/or sterility of human tissue, prevention of infectious contamination or cross contamination during processing, carcinogenicity and xenotransplantation.

The constitution of NAC-SCRT is a significant step by the government as the area of stem cell research is new and is associated with rapid scientific developments and complicated ethical, social and legal issues. So, it requires extra care and expertise in scientific and ethical evaluation of research proposals in the area of stem cells.