Scientists have been advised not to lobby Parliament in support of the Embryology and Human Fertilisation Bill for fear of provoking a backlash from opponents of the proposed legislation.

Prominent stem cell scientists had been invited by campaigners to a show their backing for the bill outside Parliament tomorrow, alongside patient groups and doctors,

Organisers said the aim of the public display of support is to counter lobbying by groups opposed to embryo research and to explain the science of the Bill to MPs.

But documents reveal that the Medical Research Council (MRC) believes any lobbying of MPs would be "counter-productive".

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Tony Peatfield, the head of policy at the MRC, has emailed the heads of four of its institutes urging them to tell staff that the MRC cannot support researchers involved in the lobby.

He says the view of the MRC is that the presence of scientists outside Parliament could have a "negative impact" and might "actually be counter-productive to the research that (the MRC) would like to see progress".

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill contains several controversial proposals, including allowing scientists to use hybrid embryos – made up of animal and human tissue – to study genetic defects.

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