The 2007 annual conference of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), held at University College London's Institute of Child Health and supported by the Galton Institute and Clifford Chance.

The Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill, published in May 2007, is intended to revise and supersede the earlier Human Fertilisation and Embryology 1990 Act in light of developments in science and society. But even in draft form, the Bill has elicited heated disagreements over such issues as the use of hybrid embryos in stem cell research, the regulation of embryo testing, and the terms on which fertility treatment should be made available. This one-day conference will examine the past, present and future of each of these areas to explore the consequences of the forthcoming legislation.

• Session 1

  Background: The Human Tissue and Embryos Bill

  Speakers:

  Phil Willis (Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Harrogate and Knaresborough)

• Chair:

  [to be added]

• Session 2

  International Perspectives and 'Reproductive Tourism'

  Speakers:

  James Lawford-Davies (Adviser to PET and Partner at Lawford Davies Denoon)

  Maureen McTeer (Adjunct Professor of Medical Law at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law)

• Chair:

  [to be added]

• Session 3

  Means, Ends, Commodities or Gifts: The Ethics of Choosing Children

  Speakers:

  Dr Tom Shakespeare (Research Fellow at the Newcastle University's Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre)

• Chair:

  [to be added]

• Session 4

  Therapeutic and Research Applications of Human Stem Cells

  Speakers:

  Dr Stephen Minger (Adviser to PET and Director of Research and Development for Cell Technologies at General Electric Healthcare)

• Chair:

  [to be added]

• Session 5

  Should We Relax Confidentiality Restrictions for More than Just Research?

  Speakers:

  John Parsons (Trustee at PET and Lead Consultant at King's College Hospital's Assisted Conception Unit)

• Chair:

  [to be added]

• Session 6

  'If You Muck About with a Birth Certificate, You Are Labelling a Child as a Second Class Person': The Politics of Donor Conception and Birth Registration

  Speakers:

  Eric Blyth (Professor of Social Work at the University of Huddersfield's School of Human and Health Sciences)

• Chair:

  [to be added]

• Related BioNews articles:

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