THE region's world-beating position in stem cell research was confirmed yesterday when North-East scientists were given a huge advantage over other research teams.

Scientists from the North-East England Stem Cell Institute are the first in the UK to be granted a licence to recruit human egg donors for research purposes.

It should mean that North-East scientists will have access to a much larger pool of donated human eggs, giving them an international advantage in the race to develop treatments for conditions such as diabetes, Alzheim-er's and Parkinson's disease.

It should also mean that cut-price infertility treatment should become more available in the North-East, with half the usual fee of £3,500 paid in return for half the eggs collected from a patient being used for research.

But the development is highly controversial, with groups opposed to stem cell research condemning the decision by the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to grant permission for the work.

Last year, the North-East team - based at the Centre for Life in Newcastle - succeeded in cloning Britain's first human embryos, putt-ing the region in pole position in the global stem cell treatment race.

North-East scientists removed the genetic material from a human egg cell and replaced it with the genetic material of a patient using a technique called nuclear transfer.

The cell was made to divide into stem cells, which have the potential to develop into almost every type of human cell and might be the source of revolutionary new treatments.

Currently, women who are undergoing IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment at the Newcastle infertility treatment centre share their eggs with other women, with only a few going to researchers.

Under this system, the recipient pays for most of the donor's treatment so the donor is able to have IVF treatment, which she might otherwise not be able to afford.

The new arrangements will allow scientists to hang on to more of the eggs.

Professor Alison Murdoch, of the Reproductive Medicine department at Newcastle University and director of the Newcastle NHS Fertility Centre, said: "We are extremely pleased with the HFEA's decision, which is a step forward for stem cell research and medicine generally.

"Volunteers have been essential to medical research for many years and this is just another way of engaging volunteers in a research project."

"But Josephine Quintavalle, from the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: "Vulnerable infertile women are going to be put under pressure. This is probably one of the most controversial things the HFEA has done."

Dr David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, said: "The decision is wrong because it diverts eggs that could be used for donation to other women, at a time when there is a drastic national shortage of donor eggs."