Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Drayson on 23 March (WA 277–8), what is the objective of improving the efficiency of human somatic cell nuclear transfer; and whether funds provided by the Medical Research Council to obtain additional women's eggs for human cloning may be used towards the derivation of clinical grade human embryonic stem cell lines for use in cell therapies or improving the outcome of infertility treatments.
Answer
The MRC-funded research project to which the noble Lord refers is not being conducted under clinical grade conditions. However, knowledge derived from the project, which aims to improve the efficiency of the technique of human somatic cell nuclear transfer, may inform the development of stem cell lines for therapy and the improvement of fertility treatment in future.