Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

My Lords, that was a very helpful reply, and I am grateful to noble Lords who spoke in this short debate. As the Minister will appreciate, my worry was that it did not seem to me to be totally clear from the wording of the Commons amendment that embryos that would alter their composition to contain predominantly human DNA post-14 days would all be captured. The Minister reassured us that the word ““predominate”” will cover all scenarios, but my problem is that the word ““predominate”” relates to an embryo, rather than a foetus, which is the term that would relate to the embryo at a later stage of its development where the proportion of animal and human DNA changes during development. A mid or late gestation foetus would definitely not be classified as an embryo. My amendment, which is inserted at the end of the government amendment, retains all the careful wording that my noble and learned friend helped to develop and clarifies that no matter how late in the potential development of the organism, which could be as late as the point of birth, if the human DNA ultimately predominated, it would be included as a human admixed embryo and thus would not be allowed to develop to that stage. After listening to the Minister’s reply, I am not totally secure that he has covered that point because of the use of the word ““embryo”” rather than ““foetus””. I listened with care to his helpful answer on the second part of my amendment. He clarified that the amendment covers not only the percentage of DNA, but also the functionality of the tissue. I had not appreciated that, and I do not think I could have been expected to from a bald reading of the wording of the amendment. It is valuable that that will go down in Hansard to be read. Unless the Minister wants to come back to me on the point I made about ““embryo”” as opposed to ““foetus””, which is a significant point, I will bow to his reassurance.