31/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - As the examination of the 7th Research Framework programme goes on, Italian Radicals and their “Luca Coscioni Association” continue to argue for freedom of research. They continue to oppose several Member States who want a more rigorous framework for research on human embryonic stem cells and launched a petition calling for funding for this kind of research through a future framework programme, as well as the inclusion of research using the cell nuclear transfer technique, also known as therapeutic cloning. The petition handed to the director of the Rita Levi-Montalcini Center for Brain Repair, Piergiorgio Strata was signed by several well-known scientific figures and by MEPs from the ALDE and PES groups in the European Parliament.