I read your editorial about the danger the European Court of Justice ruling poses to research ("Protecting stem cell research", April 28).

In this Holyrood election, the Greens’ policies pose a similar danger to medical research. Long-standing green party policy is to end medical research using animals.

In their manifesto, they have changed the focus of the policy, and are seeking a moratorium on genetic engineering of all animals. Such a policy may win support as people fear genetically modified animals entering the food chain, but the vast majority of transgenic animals are used in medical and biological research.

Examples of transgenic animals used in research include mice which have received human genes to allow the study of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. Fluorescent proteins from jellyfish are put into organisms such as mice and fruit-flies to allow cells to be studied, giving an insight into processes such as how the brain develops and functions. Genetic engineering is a fundamental tool for biological research. The Green Party’s policy would make most medical research all but impossible.

I see the Greens as a welcome addition to Holyrood, but with wider acceptance comes the need for greater scrutiny of their policies.

Michael T Craig,

Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford.