Events

Half-Truths? The Science, Politics and Morality of Hybrid Embryos

Progress Educational Trust
Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA, UK
19 May 2008 -

An evening debate at the Houses of Parliament, organised by the Progress Educational Trust (PET), with the support of Parliamentary sponsors Dr Brian Iddon (Labour Member of Parliament for Bolton South East), Robert Key (Conservative Member of Parliament for Salisbury) and John Pugh (Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Southport).

The creation of human admixed or 'hybrid' embryos - which contain both human and animal material - is perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill, and is an issue on which UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has bowed to pressure for a free vote by MPs, following reported dissent in the Cabinet and a concerted mobilisation by the Catholic Church.

Human admixed embryos have long been used to test the viability of human sperm, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has granted licenses for the use of such embryos in disease research, and there has been preliminary news of embryos created from human skin cells and cow eggs at Newcastle University. But as campaigners mount a legal challenge to this work, supporters and detractors of the research accuse one another of wilfully misleading the public.

What sorts of embryos can be created under the terms of the HFE Bill, and what can be done with them? What is the purpose of such research, and what might its benefits be? Do human admixed embryos have implications for the sanctity of life, and for what it means to be human? This public event at the Houses of Parliament will see the science, politics and morality of the issue laid open to public scrutiny, and debated from contrasting perspectives.

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Speakers

• Brenda Almond
  President of the Philosophical Society of England and Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy at the University of Hull's Department of Humanities

• Sir John Burn
  Professor of Clinical Genetics and Head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University

• Josephine Quintavalle
  Director and Cofounder of Comment on Reproductive Ethics

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Chair

• Fiona Fox
  Adviser to PET and Founding Director of the Science Media Centre

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Partners and supporters

• Dr Brian Iddon

• Robert Key

• John Pugh

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