SINGAPORE -- An advisory panel recommended that scientists be allowed to carry out cutting-edge research on stem cells in Singapore but drew a firm line against cloning human beings, in safeguards published Saturday.

The framework aims at helping establish the city-state as a bio- medical hub while ensuring it has a reputation for "morally clean" research, DPA quoted professor Lim Pin, chairman of the Bioethics Advisory Committee as saying.

Noting that stem-cell research would help scientists discover medical cures, the committee proposed stem cells could be drawn from adult human tissues, aborted fetuses, and surplus embryos from fertility treatments.

Any embryos used, however, must have developed less than 14 days old from conception, said the committee's report, published in **** The Straits Times ****. The time limit was a compromise position drawn from the views of the various religious groups in Singapore.

An outright ban was recommended on the cloning of human beings.

"It is criminal to try to create a human being," Lim was quoted as saying.

Anyone caught doing so should face tough sanctions, including jail, he added.

The 11-member committee, which includes legal and medical experts, government officials and community leaders, also called for the establishment of a statutory body to license and police research work.

Its recommendations have been submitted to the government. The committee was set up in 2000 to study the ethical, legal and social issues arising from rapid advances in life science research.

Other proposed safeguards include requiring informed consent from donors and prohibiting the buying and selling of donated materials such as surplus embryos.

Stem cells, through their ability to turn into other types of tissue cells, are believed to hold out hope for cures to such ailments as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.