Should we be allowed to do research on human embryos past 14 days?
Author: Professor Joyce Harper
There are three questions here – should we be allowed to research on human embryos at all? And if so, should there be a time limit? How long should the time limit be?
In 1984 the Warnock committee recommended that human embryo research should only be allowed up until day 14 post fertilisation (picture: Mary Warnock). Until recently we have not been able to culture human embryos past day 7 or 8. But this summer a group in Cambridge lead by Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz reported that they could culture human embryos up to day 13. So the debate has reopened – should we extend the 14 day rule set in 1984?
The Progress Educational Trust (PET) made this the topic of a conference on Wednesday and we were privileged to have Baroness Mary Warnock open the meeting. She is not sure what scientific questions we could answer if we cultured past day 14 and so she would like to know this before extending the time.
There are several areas where research on later stage embryos can be important including trying to increase the success of fertility treatment, looking at implantation failure and research into genetic diseases.
Lord George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said “I personally see no reason why that can’t be extended beyond day 14. I’m not saying now but it will happen and I’m saying it ought to happen in due course.”
To put this in context, Sally Cheshire, Chair of the HFEA who govern IVF and embryo research in the UK said that the HFEA only get 2-3 applications a year for embryo research. Most other countries do not have legislation so embryo research would be allowed.
In the future it will be possible to make embryos from stem cells. We could take a cell from an adult, make an induced pluripotent stem cell, convert this to a egg or sperm and then generate an embryo.
What do you think? Should we be allowed to research on human embryos at all? Should the time limit be kept at 14 days or would it be appropriate to extend it and to how long?
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