Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 9 March 2009 (WA 204–05), from what point is an entity created by nuclear transfer considered to beeither a human embryo or an admixed embryo subject to regulation according to Sections 1(1)(a) and 4A(6)(a) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended); whether the viability of embryos created by nuclear transfer is a prerequisite to their definition as embryos under the Act, and if so, how this is established; and what criteria the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority applies when assessing whether an entity is an embryo subject to regulation.
Answer
The meaning of an embryo is set out in Section 1(1) and a human admixed embryo in Section 4A(6) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it has nothing further to add, by way of interpretation, to the definitions contained in the Act or to the Written Answer provided by Lord Darzi of Denham on 9 March 2009, Official Report, column WA 204-05.