REMEMBERING
ANNE MCLAREN, 1927-2007
MEMBER
OF THE ETHICS ADVISORY PANEL TO ESTOOLS FROM AUGUST 2006
The untimely death of Anne McLaren in a car accident on 7th July was a
sad loss for ESTOOLS, and for the wider community working with embryonic stem
cells. Anne, a strong but
thoughtful supporter of this research, was a member of our Ethics Advisory
Panel. Most recently she participated in our first consortium meeting in Brno
in May and, previously, to our joint meeting with EuroStemCell in Berlin in
April, addressing ethical issues involved in stem cell research and
regenerative medicine. Anne not only contributed extensively to the ethical
discussions of current work with human ES cells, beginning with her membership
of the Warnock Commission in the UK, but her research over 50 years in the
reproductive biology and embryology of the laboratory mouse also provided
underpinning for the development of in vitro fertilisation and ultimately our
ability to derive embryonic stem cell lines. She was also a generous colleague,
always ready to contribute her time and ideas. Her contributions to science
will be felt for many years to come.
Peter W. Andrews, ESTOOLS Coordinator and Principal Investigator
Centre for Stem Cell Biology, University of Sheffield
http://www.estools.eu/estools/about-estools/partners/
- United Kingdom
I think I first met Anne
in the Council of Europe, where she presented a report she had prepared. I was
immediately struck by the lucidity and good judgment of both her oral
presentation and the text. Since then we worked together in the European Group
on Ethics. I joined the Group for about ten years ago, and Anne was already a
member at that time. So I can say as president of the group with great
frankness, and without belittling the contributions by others, that she played
a very essential role for the group. She was always a model of clarity,
conciseness and common sense. She could be sharp but never unfriendly. We had
made plans for future collaboration which both of us were looking forward to. I
learnt a lot from her, and her tragic death is a great personal loss to me
personally but also to her research projects, not least the EU-projects in
which she were involved. It is indeed also a great loss to the international -
not only European - discussion of ethical problems raised by new developments
in science and technology. She was a remarkable person with unique qualities.
Göran Hermerén, ESTOOLS Director and Principal Investigator
http://www.estools.eu/estools/about-estools/partners
- Sweden
I heard yesterday about this, it is really sad. Brno gave all of us the
opportunity to meet her again and to benefit from her words and precise
reactions. I set with her a few times at lunch, together with Demetrio Neri and
Giuseppe Testa. One day at the Brno meeting she was finishing her coffee in the
restaurant and we realized we were late so she started moving from the
restaurant to the conference room with her large cup of coffee. I permitted
myself to tell her that she could maybe avoid doing that since there was going
to be coffee upstairs anyway in the conference room. I could not see reasons to
take the stairs with bag, papers, and a cup of coffee in your hands. I was
simply blind. I still remember her simple but precise words. She said: "I
am Scottish and I cannot accept wasting so much coffee". I liked this message a lot.
Elena Cattaneo, ESTOOLS Principal Investigator
http://www.estools.eu/estools/about-estools/partners
- Italy/
This is very sad news for everybody involved in developmental and
reproductive biology. When I met her I was always wondering how she could be so
"scientifically" enthusiastic and ever young, able to talk about
topics that normally do not interest people of her generation. Also I remember
an evening in May 2007 in a medieval pub in Brno - it was a classic example.
She had a great impact on Czech hESC research: she delivered a Mendel lecture
in Brno shortly after we derived our first hESC line and we discussed a lot
about what would be the best way or strategy to start talking with the Czech
legislature to bring about positive rules for hESCs in the Czech Republic. In
fact she spent all afternoon in my former lab, so she was one of the first
people from outside the lab to see our cells and her advice was really
critical. Following her recommendation I drafted a statement for the Academy of
Sciences of the Czech Republic saying that this major scientific body in the
Czech Republic fully supports hESC research and clearly sees for it a great
future. This was then published as the official statement of the Academy of
Sciences - probably the first impulse to trigger this legislative process
around hESCs in our country that finally led to a very well constructed law.
So, I will miss her, as will many people around the world.
Petr Dvořák, ESTOOLS
Director and Principal Investigator
http://www.estools.eu/estools/about-estools/partners
- Czech Republic/
One can hardly believe that something like this is possible. We all will remember Anne as an example
of enormous brightness and vitality.
Ales Hampl, ESTOOLS co-Principal Investigator
http://www.estools.eu/estools/about-estools/partners
- Czech Republic/
I am shocked
by the news of Anne´s tragic death.
It was such a great pleasure for me to experience her spirit, her rich
experience, her open-minded way of thinking and her friendly and young
character during the days in Brno.
Christiane Woopen, Member of ESTOOLS Ethics Advisory Panel
http://www.estools.eu/estools/ethics/ethics-advisory
As a newcomer in August 2006 to the world of UK biomedical science and
its personalities, until 18 April 2007 I knew Anne only through the internet
and telephone. Awaiting a flight at Heathrow for Berlin on 18 April, a figure
in the departure lounge caught my attention in an undefined way: it seemed this
tiny but strong person with such an intelligent look might be the Dr McLaren
who was to speak at the Berlin workshop. With un-English boldness I stepped
forward to ask "Are you Anne?" and she was. Her travel to Berlin (and
later to the Brno meeting, for which we again shared transport) was marked by
elegant casualness of attire and extreme lightness of baggage - everything she
needed in a small backpack and especially in her head. To listen to her was
pure pleasure - whether formally (her Berlin talk), or recounting (in a Brno
bar) one of her many adventures. The brief acquaintanceship left an indelible
memory also with my 16 year-old daughter who travelled to Berlin and remembers
with wonder Anne talking at length with her.
Andrew JT Smith, ESTOOLS Project Manager
http://www.estools.eu/estools-sitewide/contact-us