Hong Kong doctors are hoping that the United States' lead on embryonic stem cell research will encourage Tung Chee-hwa's administration to fund biomedical research. The University of Hong Kong's associate dean for research affairs, Professor Paul Tam Kwong-ham, said: 'Obviously it's good news for the world. With the United States taking the lead, a place like Hong Kong can use that as an example to convince the authorities of the importance of investing in research.' He said biomedical research in Hong Kong was 'reasonably advanced' and that there was local expertise in special niche areas such as birth defects, some cancers and organ transplantation. Dr Leong Che-hung, chairman of the Human Reproductive Technology Council, said the advisory body would revisit the issue in the light of this development. 'When the law was made, nobody actually thought of cloning human beings and organs at that time,' he said. SAR law bans cloning but allows limited embryo research. Medical Council chairman Dr Lee Kin-hung said the professional code for doctors set out guidelines for new research areas but its ethics committee might discuss the US development. Council member and solicitor Mark Lam Kan-ming said there would need to be very strict controls for such research. 'Its legal, moral and social implications are still unclear,' he said. The news was met with mixed reaction in Asia, where scientists cheered US participation but also urged strict ethical guidelines. Nobuyuki Fukushima, deputy director at the bio-industry division of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said the decision was in line with trends around the world. The Japanese Government had cleared the path for basic research in this area, and the Government within the year was likely to approve research on clone embryos and embryonic stem cells, he said. Japanese researchers are particularly interested in using stem cell research to produce human body parts artificially because local laws strictly regulate organ transplants.