MPs back hybrid embryo research

Critics say tinkering with human embryos is 'immoral'

The government has survived two big challenges to its controversial plans to change the law on embryo research for the first time in 20 years.

A cross-party attempt to ban hybrid human animal embryos was defeated on a free vote, by 336 to 176.

Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly, Des Browne and Paul Murphy voted for a ban. PM Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron both opposed it.

A bid to ban "saviour siblings" was voted down by 342 votes to 163.

The votes followed two impassioned debates in the committee stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, aimed at updating laws from 1990 in line with scientific advances.

'Ethically wrong'

On Tuesday, MPs have a further free vote on the emotive issue of cutting the abortion time limit.

Mr Cameron, along with Mr Brown, has backed the use of hybrid embryos as a means to develop treatments for cancer and conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. They also both support the creation of "saviour siblings".

BILL'S KEY VOTES Use of hybrid embryos - Monday 'Saviour siblings' - Monday Role of fathers in IVF - Tuesday Abortion limits - Tuesday How ministers voted Research 'gives me hope' Q&A: Hybrid embryos

However, the majority of the Tory shadow cabinet, including shadow foreign secretary William Hague and shadow home secretary David Davis, backed the unsuccessful attempt to ban hybrids.

Ex-minister Edward Leigh, who led the fight against the creation of hybrid "admixed" embryos, said they were "ethically wrong and almost certainly medically useless".

He said there was "no evidence yet to substantiate" claims the work could lead to treatment for degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The bill would allow regulated research using hybrid or "admix" embryos, where the nuclei of human cells are inserted into animal eggs. The resulting embryos would be kept for up to 14 days to harvest stem cells.

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo says any research done using human embryos "must satisfy the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority that it was necessary or desirable".

No human "admix" embryo would be implanted into a woman or animal, she says.

'Too human'?

But Mr Leigh said: "We do not believe that regulation is enough. We believe this is a step too far and therefore should be banned.

"In embryos, we do have the genetic make up of a complete human being and we could not and should not be spliced together with the animal kingdom."

How hybrid embryos might be created

And ex-Labour minister Sir Gerald Kaufman, agreed, adding: "How far do you go? Where do you stop? What are the limits and what are the boundaries?

"If you permit the creation of hybrid embryos now, what will you seek to permit next time, even if you have no idea where it will lead?"

MPs comment on embryo bill defeat

Labour's Chris Bryant, a former Anglican curate, said Mr Leigh's arguments were like those used by church leaders against the smallpox vaccine.

"They were wrong and I think you are wrong today," he said.

Liberal Democrat Evan Harris criticised those who argued hybrid embryos were too human.

"If it's ethically acceptable to use up and destroy fully human embryos with all the potential they have, how is it right to provide for hybrid embryos, with less potential of viability, greater protection?" he said.

A separate attempt to ban "pure" hybrid embryos, that would mix a human egg with animal sperm or vice versa, was also defeated in the Commons by 286 votes to 223, a government majority of 63.

Tory David Burrowes' attempt to stop parents having so-called "saviour siblings" - babies selected to provide genetic material for seriously ill relatives - also suffered defeat.

The Bill would allow the selection of embryos that are a tissue match for a sick older brother or sister.

But Mr Burrowes said it was wrong to create a child for the benefit of another, regardless of "the need".

MPs are being given a free vote on four controversial parts of the bill. The other two areas are:

• Role of fathers in fertility treatment: Would end the requirement for IVF clinics to consider the "welfare" of any child created in terms of need for a father. Debate from 1530 BST Tuesday, with vote at about 1830 BST.
• The upper limit for abortion: Amendments have been put down to the bill to cut from 24 weeks the time limit for abortions. Debate on Tuesday from 1830 BST, with votes at about 2200 BST.

The Roman Catholic Church has branded the use of hybrid embryos as "monstrous" and says tinkering with life in this way is immoral.

Catholic bishops in Britain and the Irish Republic have given £25,000 to scientists using adult stem cells, which is less controversial than using immature ones.

HAVE YOUR SAY

There are ethical alternatives to what is, in effect, creating a Frankenstein hybrid

Paul, Belfast

Send us your comments

Such cells can be used to create brain, skin, heart and other tissue for treating diseases.

But Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said the result would keep the UK at the forefront of embryo research.

Conservative leader David Cameron, along with Mr Brown, has backed the use of hybrid embryos as a means to develop treatments for cancer and conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. They also both support the creation of "saviour siblings".

Scientists at Newcastle University announced last month that they had created the first part-human, part-animal hybrid embryos in the UK.

They were created by injecting DNA derived from human skin cells into eggs taken from cows' ovaries which had had virtually all their genetic material removed.

Researchers say these human-animal "admixed" embryos could help solve the current problem of the lack of human eggs from which to generate embryos.

Return to story

Embryology Bill: the key points

MPs begin debating the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, an updated version of the current legislation which became law in 1990, this week.

Research on very early embryos is one of the most controversial areas of the Bill

It was drafted because of a feeling the existing law was increasingly out-dated and irrelevant to scientific advances made in the last 20 years.

But several of the key issues are causing bitter divisions of opinion.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was forced to offer a free vote on three controversial areas in order to avert a rebellion by Catholic MPs.

Here, we set out the debate on those three points, plus a bid to reduce the abortion time limit - also controversial - which is set to be discussed as an amendment to the Bill.

HYBRID EMBRYOS

A hybrid embryo is a mixture of animal and human tissue.

They are created by transferring DNA from human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs that have had virtually all their genetic information removed.

The resulting embryos are more than 99% human, with a small animal component of around 0.1%.

They are then grown in the lab for a few days before being harvested for stem cells, immature cells that can become many types of tissue.

Animal eggs are being suggested because of a lack of human eggs available for this kind of work.

Such admixed embryos would never be allowed to develop beyond a few days. It is already illegal to implant human-animal embryos in the womb or bring them to term.

Two licences to create hybrid embryos have already been granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and a team in Newcastle has successfully produced them.

What are the arguments in favour of this process?

Scientists who advocate the work say the cells would allow them to study how genetic defects, which cause diseases such as Parkinson's, develop.

They also say that stem cells' ability to develop into different tissues mean it could be possible to use cells formed in this process to cure diseases.

What are the arguments against?

Opponents say it is tampering with nature, and is unethical.

FATHER FIGURE

Existing legislation requires IVF clinics to consider the "welfare" of any child created. That currently means considering the need for a father.

The new Bill says this should no longer be the case.

What is the argument in favour?

It is said that some lesbian couples and single women have not been allowed to have treatment, and those in favour of the change - including government ministers - say removing the need for that consideration means that would not occur.

After criticism, the wording in the Bill has changed from considering the need for a father to needing "supportive parenting".

What is the opposition to this proposal?

Opponents say the phrase "supportive parenting" denigrates the role of fathers in a child's life

They say retaining the need to consider the need for a father would reinforce the importance of role, but not prevent single women or lesbians from having treatment.

Tory peer John Patten has said recently that having a father brings a range of practical and spiritual benefits to a child, including better health, education and future earning power and less chance of criminal behaviour.

He said a having a father figure also provides boys with a positive role model to look up to.

SAVIOUR SIBLINGS

Saviour siblings are babies born because they are a tissue match for a sick older brother or sister with a genetic condition.

Cells from the baby's bone marrow or umbilical cord are used to treat the older child.

It is only considered where conventional treatment, such as using an existing family member as a donor, has been ruled out.

Embryos are created using the mother's eggs and the father's sperm. They are then allowed to develop to the eight-cell stage, which takes two to three days.

One or two cells are removed from each embryo, and tested to see if they have the genetic flaw responsible for the existing child's illness.

An embryo which is a tissue match, but unaffected by the gene flaw, is then implanted in the mother's womb for it to develop.

This type of tissue typing has already been permitted for six families, although it is not explicitly covered by the 1990 Act.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), the technique used to see if an embryo is a match, is legally permitted now if a genetic condition is present in a family.

It can be used to check an embryo does not carry any one of 50 different conditions including cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

What is the argument in favour?

That children who have no other hope of treatment for serious medical conditions could be helped, at no detriment to their new brother or sister.

What is the argument against?

There are fears children will be created as saviour siblings alone, and not because they are a wanted child.

There are also concerns that PGD will be used to select male or female embryos, even when there is no risk of a genetic condition. Some sex selection is already permitted, if the condition concerned is something such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which primarily affects boys.

ABORTION

The upper time limit for abortions is not addressed in the main Bill, but Conservative MP Nadine Dorries is tabling an amendment which means it will be discussed at the same time.

ABORTIONS, ENGLAND & WALES 2006 193,000 abortions took place 89% before 13 weeks 2,948 - 1.5% - after 20 weeks 90% of those took place between 22 and 24 weeks

She, and those who agree with her, want to see the time limit reduced to 20 weeks, from 24.

The argument centres on a foetus's "viability", and around the improvements in the treatment of babies born prematurely, and at what stage they can survive.

What is the argument in favour of reducing the limit?

Ms Dorries says babies born at 24 weeks are increasingly likely to survive, and it should therefore not be permitted to abort pregnancies at this stage.

Right-to-life groups add that efforts should be made to save every life.

And what is the argument against?

Studies, including one published in the British Medical Journal this month, show that while survival rates have increased significantly for babies born at 24 and 25 weeks, they have not risen for babies born 23 weeks or less.

Very few terminations take place at this stage of pregnancy.

But those in favour of keeping the limit as it is say that. since it is the 20 week scan which reveals severe abnormalities, parents need time to make a decision about whether they are going to keep the baby.

Scientists' protest discouraged by MRC

By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News

Hybrid embryos have already been created in the UK

Scientists are being discouraged from attending Parliament on Monday to show their support for proposed embryology and fertility legislation.

Documents obtained by BBC News show the Medical Research Council (MRC) believes any lobbying of MPs would be "counter-productive".

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill contains controversial proposals on abortion, IVF and hybrid embryos.

Opponents believe the measures are unethical and unnecessary.

Having worked with patient groups in supporting the bill thus far we would leave them high and dry if we didn't give them public support on the day that the bill reaches the Commons Dr Stephen Minger Embryology Bill: Key points

Prominent stem cell scientists had been invited by campaigners to a show of support for the bill, along with patient groups and doctors.

The aim, according to the organisers, is to counter lobbying by groups opposed to embryo research - and to explain the science to interested MPs.

BBC News has learned that the head of policy at the MRC, Tony Peatfield, has emailed the heads of four of its institutes asking them to tell staff that the MRC cannot support researchers involved in the event.

He says that the corporate view is that the presence of scientists outside Parliament could have a "negative impact" and might "actually be counter-productive to the research that (the MRC) would like to see progress".

Angry response

One of the scientists invited to the event is Dr Stephen Minger - who holds one of the two licences to clone human embryos for research purposes.

He said that he "failed to understand the MRC's view".

Dr Minger said that as a result of Mr Peatfield's note, rather than just turn up by himself he is now urging his entire laboratory staff to attend.

He said: "By giving our support to the bill we are showing MPs that there is another point of view.

"And it was lobbying by scientists in the first place that meant that the government was able to understand why the creation of hybrid embryos was necessary.

"Having worked with patient groups in supporting the bill thus far we would leave them high and dry if we didn't give them public support on the day that the bill reaches the Commons."

Dr Evan Harris, who organised the event, described the MRC's response as "rather absurd and paranoid".

He said: "It is a valid part of public engagement - which the MRC is supposed to be encouraging - for scientists to come to Parliament and explain their research."

In his email to institute heads, Mr Peatfield forwarded an earlier note sent by the MRC's head of clinical research and ethics, Catherine Elliot. This note, he said, "is now the corporate view".

Dr Elliot states: "The feedback we have had is that the scientists who are speaking about these issues, to MPs and in the media, appear measured, rational, and not pushing their agenda against all odds.

"Again we would emphasise that pictures of apparently protesting scientists is quite likely to undermine this.

"While we appreciate that protest is not the intention of the event that is how pictures may well be interpreted."

In a statement, the MRC said: "In common with all organisations receiving public money, the MRC has a responsibility to ensure that it uses the most appropriate methods to communicate its policy.

"It is not appropriate for the MRC to undertake lobbying activities such as public demonstrations or protests.

"If scientists supported by the MRC wish to become involved in lobbying in a personal capacity, for example by demonstrating outside Parliament, they are free to do so, but we require them to make clear that this is in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of the MRC."