Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 1 April 2009 (WA 235), whether information was communicated to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) between 16 June 2004 and 16 March 2005 in which the potential for transgressing the 14-day limit was raised in relation to activities to be covered by HFEA research licence R0152; and what consideration was given by the HFEA to a submission by the nominal licensee for that research licence to the Department of Health in 2005 recommending ““that the period for which an embryo can be maintained in culture should not be stipulated in law, or should, at the very least should be extended to 20 days””.
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that research licence R0152, issued by the authority, currently permits the derivation of stem cell lines from embryos created by cell nuclear replacement using nuclei taken from sources that may include a patient with type 1 diabetes. The current licence period expires on 31 July 2011. With regard to information communicated to the HFEA, relevant to the licensing of research, the authority has advised that it has nothing to add to the information given to the noble Lord in my Written Answer of 28 February 2011 (Official Report, cols. WA 218-19).