Government proposals for the regulation of hybrid and chimera embryos

Government proposals for the regulation of hybrid and chimera embryos
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 86
Release: 2007-04-05
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780215033512

This report is a response to the publication of Government proposals to prohibit the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos for research for the time being ("Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act", Cm. 6989, ISBN 9780101698924). It also takes account of recent applications from researchers for licences to create human-animal cytoplasmic hybrid embryos for research. Since the 1990 Act there have been significant developments in science and medicine and there is a need for revised legislation in this area of research. The Committee finds that the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos, and specifically cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, is necessary for research. But development of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos past the 14-day stage should be prohibited and there should be a prohibition on the implantation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos in a woman. The Committee is critical of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for delaying assessment of applications for licences to create cytoplasmic hybrid embryos for research. The Government proposals are considered prohibitive. Some research practices should be permitted under licence immediately. The Committee proposes mechanisms for legislation and regulation of the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos for research. The report criticises the Government for not clearly setting out the areas of research practice intended to fall under the proposed legislation and suggests that greater attention should be paid to implications of the proposals for current research practice and the UK research base.

Government response to the report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee

Government response to the report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee
Author: Great Britain: Department of Health
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2007-06-18
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0101713924

This document sets out the Government's reply to the Committee's report (HCP 272-I, session 2006-07; ISBN 9780215033512) on the Government's policy proposals for changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 in order to update the law and regulation relating to human reproductive technologies (Cm. 6989, ISBN 9780101698924). The Committee's report argued that the creation of human-animal chimera or hybrid embryos, and specifically cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, are necessary for research purposes, under licence, and criticised the Government for not clearly setting out the areas of research practice intended to fall under the proposed legislation. The Government's response deals with all 34 of the Committee's conclusions and recommendations and finds that the Committee's report has very helpfully moved the debate on this issue forward.

Human Tissue and Embryos (draft) Bill

Human Tissue and Embryos (draft) Bill
Author: Great Britain: Department of Health
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2007-05-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780101708722

The Government set out detailed policy proposals for changes to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 in its White Paper (Cm.6989, ISBN 9780101698924) published in December 2006. These proposed changes to the law and regulation relating to human reproductive technologies, following on from a public consultation exercise undertaken during 2005, sought to balance the competing claims of reproductive liberty and responsibility, patient safety, child welfare, professional autonomy and public accountability. The overarching aim is to achieve the common good through a system which is broadly acceptable to society, given the complex ethical issues involved, and which is effective given the pace of scientific developments. This present document contains the draft text of the proposed Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, published in order to enable pre-legislative scrutiny of the proposals by a Parliamentary Committee. It includes the text of the draft Bill, explanatory notes, a draft regulatory impact assessment and a version of how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act would look if amended by the draft Bill and the EU Tissue Directive. The proposals include the creation of the new single regulatory authority on the use of human tissue, cells and blood, to be called the Regulatory Authority for Tissue and Embryos (RATE), to replace the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Human Tissue Authority.

Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill

Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: Joint Committee on the Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2007-08-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0104011432

The draft Bill was published in May 2007 as Command paper Cm 7087 (ISBN 9780101708722). Vol. 1 of this report is also available (ISBN 9780104011348)

Regenerating Bodies

Regenerating Bodies
Author: Julie Kent
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2012
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0415688817

This book develops a sociological analysis of the emergence of regenerative medicine, providing critical insights into what it means to 'regenerate bodies'. It examines how human tissues and cells are being exchanged, commodified and commercialized by new health technologies. Through a discussion of emergent global 'tissue economies', the author explores the social dynamics of innovation in the fields of tissue engineering and stem cell science.

Chimeras, Hybrids, and Interspecies Research

Chimeras, Hybrids, and Interspecies Research
Author: Andrea L. Bonnicksen
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2009-09-21
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1589017196

In his 2006 State of the Union speech, President George W. Bush asked the U.S. Congress to prohibit the "most egregious abuses of medical research," such as the "creation of animal–human hybrids." The president's message echoed that of a 2004 report by the President's Council on Bioethics, which recommended that hybrid human–animal embryos be banned by Congress. Discussions of early interspecies research, in which cells or DNA are interchanged between humans and nonhumans at early stages of development, can often devolve into sweeping statements, colorful imagery, and confusing policy. Although today's policy advisory groups are becoming more informed, debate is still limited by the interchangeable use of terms such as chimeras and hybrids, a tendency to treat all forms of interspecies alike, the failure to distinguish between laboratory research and procreation, and not enough serious policy justification. Andrea Bonnicksen seeks to understand reasons behind support of and disdain for interspecies research in such areas as chimerism, hybridization, interspecies nuclear transfer, cross-species embryo transfer, and transgenics. She highlights two claims critics make against early interspecies studies: that the research will violate human dignity and that it can lead to procreation. Are these claims sufficient to justify restrictive policy? Bonnicksen carefully illustrates the challenges of making policy for sensitive and often sensationalized research—research that touches deep-seated values and that probes the boundary between human and nonhuman animals.

The Regulatory Enterprise

The Regulatory Enterprise
Author: Tony Prosser
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199579830

The use of regulation to control behavior is a defining feature of modern government, penetrating a wide range of social and economic life. This book offers a detailed study of how regulation works in practice, its legal framework, and the arguments surrounding its economic and social impact.

Chimera's Children

Chimera's Children
Author: David Albert Jones
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2012-11-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441125388

A comprehensive survey of the current context and ethical implications of human-nonhuman genetic combinations. The idea of human-nonhuman combinations has been a recurrent theme throughout the history of humanity. From the myths of the Minotaur and the centaurs in ancient Greece to the dogheads of the Middle Ages right through to the monsters of modern science fiction, these beings have always been a source of fascination. In recent years, however, biomedical advances have demonstrated the potential to make these entities a reality through the creation of inter-species combinations. As a result, pressing and perplexing ethical questions arise. Introducing the reader to the historical context of human-nonhuman experimentation and potential future developments, this volume offers clarification, analysis and a thorough overview of the ethical challenges relating to human-nonhuman chimeras, true hybrids, cybrids and other combinations. This book is the first accessible survey of the different ethical dilemmas facing contemporary society in the creation of human-nonhuman embryonic, foetal and postnatal entities. These include important cultural, legal, philosophical and religious perspectives. As such it will act as a springboard for future debate.

Embryo Politics

Embryo Politics
Author: Thomas Banchoff
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2011-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801461073

Since the first fertilization of a human egg in the laboratory in 1968, scientific and technological breakthroughs have raised ethical dilemmas and generated policy controversies on both sides of the Atlantic. Embryo, stem cell, and cloning research have provoked impassioned political debate about their religious, moral, legal, and practical implications. National governments make rules that govern the creation, destruction, and use of embryos in the laboratory—but they do so in profoundly different ways. In Embryo Politics, Thomas Banchoff provides a comprehensive overview of political struggles about embryo research during four decades in four countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. Banchoff’s book, the first of its kind, demonstrates the impact of particular national histories and institutions on very different patterns of national governance. Over time, he argues, partisan debate and religious-secular polarization have come to overshadow ethical reflection and political deliberation on the moral status of the embryo and the promise of biomedical research. Only by recovering a robust and public ethical debate will we be able to govern revolutionary life-science technologies effectively and responsibly into the future.

Contested Cells: Global Perspectives On The Stem Cell Debate

Contested Cells: Global Perspectives On The Stem Cell Debate
Author: Benjamin J Capps
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 517
Release: 2010-08-19
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1908978295

This book represents the coming together of a number of internationally renowned scholars from science, philosophy, law and social science. Each author presents a distinctive and critical account of the current ethical, social and jurisprudential issues concerning stem cell science: together covering both its research beginnings, and the future translation into the clinical setting. Original to this volume is an emphasis on the inter-state implications of developments in stem cell science from the perspective of a truly global collaboration of leading authors. Academics and policy-makers will find it an invaluable contribution to the socio-political and ethical discourse of stem cell science./a