Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, said:
These are exciting times for embryo and stem cell research, with many new developments as well as accompanying ethical questions.
The new guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research do an excellent job of addressing the ethically challenging areas - the duration for which embryos may be cultured in the laboratory, the creation of embryo-like entities by methods other than ordinary fertilisation, the creation of sperm or eggs by novel methods, the editing of genomes, and the combining of human and nonhuman materials - so as to enable research to proceed in a responsible and transparent way, with oversight and public input.
For the past five years, since it became technically possible to culture human embryos for up to 14 days in the laboratory, the Progress Educational Trust has been facilitating public and professional debate about the scientific and ethical case for extending the 14-day rule.
These new guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research offer an excellent framework to take that debate forward, and consider whether and how UK law might be changed so that embryos might be cultured for longer than 14 days under licence.
It is important to remember that any researcher proposing to do this under a revised law would still need to apply for and receive the necessary licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
There are strong scientific and ethical arguments for culturing human embryos beyond the 14 days that are currently permitted under UK law.
Not only will this help scientists understand human biology and disease, it will also maximise the usefulness of a precious resource – namely embryos donated for research by fertility patients following the completion of their treatment.
The new guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research are extremely helpful, in setting out the steps that must be taken in order to argue for an extension to the 14-day limit.
In recent years, researchers have made remarkable advances in creating embryo-like entities from stem cells rather than from ordinary fertilisation. Such entities present a wide range of ethical and regulatory challenges.
The new guidelines from the International Society for Stem Cell Research have brough much-needed clarity to this area, categorising embryo models and distinguishing between uncontroversial research uses and work that requires more careful scrutiny.
The new guidelines also make a welcome contribution to the case for extending the 14-day limit, in research that involves human embryos proper.
The Progress Educational Trust is a charity which improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.
