Double the time limit for embryo trials say experts

SCIENTISTS are calling for the 14day limit to experiment on human embryos to be doubled.

For the first time this year, human embryos were kept alive in the laboratory for 13 days by scientists at Cambridge University – double what was previously possible.

However some scientists want the 14-day limit to be changed.

A conference in London yesterday heard that embryos kept for 28 days – known as the ‘black box’ of clues on human development – could help scientists to understand why women miscarry or babies die from genetic defects.

But the proposal has sparked fury among religious groups, who believe day 14 is when someone becomes a person, as this is when the precursor of the central nervous system – the ‘primitive streak’ – begins to form.

In a debate held by the Progress Educational Trust, David Jones, a professor of bioethics at St Mary’s

‘Act of homicide’

University Twickenham, called destroying an embryo after research an act of ‘homicide’.

The proposal to extend the limit also failed to receive the backing of Baroness Warnock, who originally advised the government in 1984 to cap it at 14 days. She warned of a potential backlash from opponents of the existing law that could set back progress.

But IVF expert Dr Simon Fishel said examining embryos for 28 days would allow scientists to understand how stem cells with the ability to become any part of the body develop, and help explain why up to 70 per cent of women who have fertility treatment fail to become pregnant because the embryo does not implant.

He added that evidence suggests that embryos kept for up to 28 days experience no pain or suffering.