Question
asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 22 January (WA 28) and 19 June (WA 177–78) regarding transfer of outgrowing entities to the womb, whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) treats the absence of evidence for potential as adequate evidence of the absence of potential; and whether it has studied data supporting the views of the HFEA's Scientific and Clinical Advances Group on 14 June 2007 concerning the licensing of cytoplasmic hybrids based on their ““potential to develop into a human being if implanted in a woman””.
Answer
It will be for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to form a view, taking account of the available evidence, and the research proposals submitted to it, on the potential of outgrown embryos and on the potential of cytoplasmic hybrid embryos.