UK parliament backs human-animal embryo research
British scientists will be allowed to research devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s using human-animal embryos after the House of Commons rejected a ban yesterday. An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of "human admixed embryos" for medical research was defeated in a free vote by 336 votes to 176, a majority of 160, preserving what Prime Minister Gordon Brown regarded as a central element of the legislation.
Gordon Brown, whose one-year-old son Fraser has cystic fibrosis and could benefit from embryo research, wrote in a piece published in The Observer last Sunday:
Around the world, researchers now face a severe shortage of embryonic stem cells. They argue that the safest way to maintain progress is to make use of animal eggs from which the animal genetic material is almost entirely removed, then a human cell nucleus added, to make them compatible for research on human diseases. If these 'human admixed embryos' survive for a few days, stem cells may be collected from them and grown in culture. The embryos are then destroyed. By permitting the use of this technique, we may be able to bring to an end the critical limiting factor in stem cell research: the lack of human eggs from which to create embryos and collect stem cells.
The main kinds of admixed embryo permitted by the Bill are “cytoplasmic hybrids” or “cybrids”, which are made by moving a human nucleus into an empty animal egg. These are genetically 99.9 per cent human. A second amendment, which would have banned the creation of "true hybrids" made by fertilising an animal egg with human sperm, or vice-versa, and are 50 per cent human, was also defeated yesterday by 286 votes to 223, a majority of 63. As well as true hybrids, the legislation allows chimeras that combine human and animal cells, and transgenic human embryos that include a little animal DNA.
It is legal to culture admixed embryos up to 14 days and illegal to transfer them to a human or animal womb.
Conservative leader David Cameron praised MPs' vote not to ban animal-human embryos. He told GMTV: "I have got a son with epilepsy and cerebral palsy. When I look at how he suffers ... and if we can do anything to stop him suffering and stop other children suffering, should we not try?"
Three Roman Catholic members of the Cabinet were among a series of ministers who backed a ban. Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, Des Browne, the Defence Secretary and Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary, all backed calls for a full ban on hybrid embryos. MPs opposed to the proposals said the hybrid embryos were morally unacceptable and offered no guarantee of a medical breakthrough.
Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris argued: “The outrageous allegation has been made that there have been no treatments despite conducting [embryonic stem cell research] for decades. That is simply not the case. Adult stem cells have featured in clinical trials since the 1950s and it would therefore be a shock if we did not have therapies as a result. The first human embryonic stem cell lines were derived in the UK by Stephen Minger’s group at King’s college in 2003. The first ES cells worldwide were created only in 1998. Since it takes 15 years to get a molecule into patients, it is not surprising that it will take some years yet to experience the clinical benefits of the research. Arguing that it has not been done in five years, so it should therefore be thrown out, is preposterous and the worst argument that I have heard from opponents of the research.”
The most immediate implication of the Commons vote will be to allow teams at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and King’s College London, which already hold licences to create cybrids, to continue their research. Though they were cleared to start these experiments by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in January, their licences would have been rescinded had MPs voted for a ban.
The decision will also encourage a third team, which plans to use admixed embryos to study motor neuron disease, to apply for a licence. Professor Chris Shaw, head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at King's College London (and a signatory to Declan’s petition to the UN on therapeutic cloning), who leads the group, said: “It will allow us to forge ahead on all fronts in our attempts to understand and develop therapies for a huge range of currently incurable diseases. Cures may be some years off, but this vote does mean we can use hybrid embryos, in addition to adult stem cells, in our search to understand what causes Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease.”
Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of genetics at the National Institute For Medical Research in London (and another signatory of Declan’s petition), said the vote would aid understanding of embryonic development and of genetic disease. “This understanding will ultimately give us the best chance of developing therapies for these diseases, for infertility and for a range of other medical conditions.”
Simon Denegri, chief executive of the Association for Medical Research Charities, said: “MPs have clearly listened to the strong arguments put forward by medical research charities, patient groups and scientists of the importance of this research to advancing our understanding of diseases and conditions that affect hundreds of thousands of people in the UK.”
The Times today carries an analysis by Science Editor Mark Henderson under the title “Benefits are years off, but it’s a victory for scientific freedom”. Henderson says:
As cybrids are supported by all the country’s leading scientific institutions, a ban would have suggested that this considered consensus matters less to Parliament than the vocal concerns of a religious minority … The vote is significant for another reason: it will encourage scientists to speak out more about their research. The Government intended to ban cybrids, but changed its mind when stem cell experts such as Stephen Minger [a signatory of Declan’s petition] and Lyle Armstrong [another signatory of the petition] took time to say what they planned to do, and why.
Catholic leaders were unified in their unhappiness over the Bill. In a joint statement, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Cardinal Sean Brady said: "Not nearly enough time has been given to discussing these issues and these questions require answers before and not after legislation. Other emerging techniques hold potential for good, without creating and destroying human embryos." Phyllis Bowman of Right to Life said: “The ignoramuses have voted to waste money that will achieve nothing.”
