Germany's embryonic stem cell law, which took effect just 2 years ago, needs to be changed if German researchers are to effectively cooperate with overseas scientists, according to Oliver Bruestle, one of Germany's most celebrated stem cell researchers.

But two government officials have suggested that that it will be at least several years before the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of Parliament, would even consider reopening discussion on the highly controversial issue.

The stem cell law, approved in compromise form by the Bundestag only after much parliamentary and public debate, states that only embryonic stem cells that date before January 1, 2002, can be imported into Germany.

Bruestle, head of the Institute for Reconstructive Neurobiology at the University of Bonn, was quoted in the German-language Financial Times Deutschland as saying that the import ban on newer embryonic cell lines must be lifted.

Bruestle told the daily newspaper that German researchers have began cooperating in EU projects with researchers from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and many other European nations who can use newer stem cells, which he said are often of better quality than older lines. Without access to the newer cells, it will not be possible for German researchers to compare results with international cooperation partners using newer cells.

Bruestle, who in 2001 and 2002 appeared frequently in the German press advocating a new stem cell law, declined to comment for this story. The Financial Times Deutschland article said that he had become “somewhat quieter” recently, consciously cutting back on press interviews. The newspaper said Bruestle's past robust public advocacy for a new stem cell law had won him admirers, but also critics who see him as an “unscrupulous and ambitious researcher.”

Barbara Dufner, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education and Research, told The Scientist that crafting the new law a couple of years ago to appease opposing viewpoints was a difficult process.

“We are very happy that we now have a good compromise,” Dufner said, adding that the issue will not be reopened until German stem cell researchers advance from basic research to therapeutic research.

For basic research, embryonic stem cells dating before January 1, 2002, are “sufficient,” Dufner said. “When there is really a need for newer stem cells, they have to think about a new law again,” she said.

Asked when that time might come, Dufner said: “I think it will be really in the future.” The exact timing depends on the pace of basic research, she said.

Andreas Kurtz, head of the press office at the Robert Koch Institute—which must give regulatory approval for import of embryonic stem cells—told The Scientist that he agreed that the older stem cells are sufficient for basic research. But he added: “When we move into clinical research, the cells we have now are not suitable.”

Kurtz also was reluctant to speculate when that day might come. But when pressed, he said: “At a minimum, my guess would be we are at least 5 years away.”