Danielle Hamm, director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB), has warned that the UK risks 'falling behind' as a world leader in fertility research if regulations do not keep pace with scientific developments.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 introduced the first regulation of fertility treatment and research in the UK, and set the legal limit for embryo research at 14-days. More recently an international group of experts proposed a 'roadmap' for extending the current limit to 28 days (see BioNews 1296), a change that was recommended by the regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, in 2024 (see BioNews 1268).
Hamm warned that the government must 'ensure the HFE Act is fit for the future' in its regulation of embryo research limits and other emerging technologies such as stem-cell based embryo models (SCBEMs).
Read more in Politics Home.