Q&A: embryology bill debate

Last Modified: 12 May 2008
By: Channel 4 News

The controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is to get a second reading debate in parliament.

Q: What are the key elements of the bill?

A: The creation of hybrid embryos, injecting DNA from adult human cells into a hollowed-out cow or rabbit egg, to create stem cells for research without having to use human eggs.

It relaxes the circumstances under which children genetically matched to a sibling with a genetic condition, or "saviour siblings" can be created.

It changes the "need for a father" provision for children created by IVF to a "need for supportive parenting" in line with equality laws.

Until now, couples could store frozen embryos for up to five years, after which time they had to be destroyed. The bill would allow these embryos to be donated for research.

Lib Dem MP Vince Cable will table an amendment to allow a woman to use sperm from her dead partner posthumously.

There are a series of amendments expected variously proposing new abortion limits of 22, 20, 18, 16 and 13 weeks.

Q: What will Labour MPs have a free vote on?

A: The free votes will apply to three clauses governing human admixed embryos, "saviour siblings" and the "need for a father" during fertility treatment.

Q: What are hybrid or "admix" embryos?

A: A hybrid embryo is a mixture of both human and animal tissue. They are created by transferring nuclei containing DNA from human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs that have had almost all of their genetic information removed.

The resulting cytoplasmic embryos, known as admixed embryos, are more than 99 per cent human, with a small animal component making up around 0.1 per cent. The embryo would be grown in the lab for 14 days then harvested for stem cells.

Q: Why use animal eggs?

A: The creation of hybrid human-animal embryos was first invented as a way of addressing the shortage of human eggs available for research. Creating human-animal mixes for stem cells is easier and yields better results according to scientists.

Q: What does "saviour sibling" refer to?

A: Children genetically matched to a sibling with a genetic condition can be created by using a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis during IVF, selecting a matched embryo for implantation into the mother. The child could then act as a tissue donor to its sick sibling.

Q: What does "need for a father" mean?

A: Under current law, fertility clinics must consider a child's need for a father before approving patients, which the government considers it discriminatory. It plans a new requirement to consider "the need for supportive parenting".

Q: What about the bill as a whole, will it be subject to free vote?

A: Labour will not whip votes on amendments to the three main clauses detailed above, but if they remain in the bill the government will expect its MPs to support it at final reading.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will give their MPs a free vote on the whole bill.

Q: When will the bill come to the Commons?

A: Probably not for two months, however the main battle will come next week, when MPs have the chance to vote on detailed amendments to the legislation.

Q: So why the debate now?

A: The Catholic Church doesn't want a repeat of last year when its adoption agencies were forced to accept gay adoption after challenging legislation too late. This time it is lobbying and rallying Catholic MPs well ahead of a vote in the Commons.

Q: Has the government always supported hybrids?

A: When the bill was first published in draft form, admixed embryos were to be banned. After scientists and patients objected to the ban a committee of MPs and peers backed the legalisation of hybrids, and ministers agreed to change the bill.

Q: Why do scientists want to make hybrid embryos?

A: In genetic terms, these embryos are 99.9 per cent human, and can be made from the DNA of patients with conditions such as motor neuron disease. These cells can then be used to investigate the progression of the disease and potentially develop treatments.

Q: What are the ethical arguments?

A: The Roman Catholic Church says that hybrid embryos are an infringement on the sanctity of embryonic life, however it's worth remembering that it opposes all research on human embryos.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has denounced the proposals as a "monstrous" attack on human rights and dignity.

Patients and scientists, however, argue that it is immoral not to allow the research because it could hugely improve quality of life and even save lives.

They point out that hybrid embryos would not be implanted in women or animals to create offspring, but would be used to harvest stem cells for research before being destroyed.