Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [Lords]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend. That is the least the public would expect of us. They may or may not agree with the principles and the practical results, but at the very least they would expect the Bill to cover researched examples of animal-human embryos. It is important that we do not leave that to a foolproof clause regulating future embryo research. In tetraploid complementation, pluripotent stem cells are combined with an embryo that has been altered in such a way that the terms of Bill would not properly apply. Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 those embryos could be legally implanted into an animal and taken up to mid-gestation without requiring a Home Office licence for the research project—it is this part of the process that causes concern and is not subject to proper regulation—other than an implementation licence, which is an unrelated animal welfare issue. That goes against the principles behind clause 4 as described by the noble Lord Darzi in the other place. Those principles are also reflected in the new sub-paragraph (e) which is intended, as the Minister said, to capture all hybrid embryos in which human DNA is predominant. The embryos that I am describing would be similar to the type of chimeric embryos described in section 4A(6)(d) of the 1990 Act. They would be, as defined in the Bill, a mixture of human and animal cells, rather than transgenic embryos or cloned embryos. However, they would remain outside regulation, and I shall spend a few minutes explaining why they would fall outside the ambit of the Bill. First, the chimeric embryos referred to in section 4A(6)(d) are human embryos to which animal cells are added. However, the chimeric embryos in the example that I am putting forward would be animal embryos to which human cells were added. As confirmed by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath in a written answer on 25 June 2007, they would not be captured by sub-paragraph (d). Lord Hunt stated:"““Chimera embryos created by the addition of human cells to an animal embryo are not within the regulatory framework set out in the draft Bill. These chimeras, made using animal embryos, are regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 at such time as they become a protected animal under that Act. Any embryos not considered to be a protected animal do not come within the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act.””— [Official Report, House of Lords, 25 June 2007; Vol. 693, c. WA101.]" The second reason why there is a need for amendment No. 47 is that the chimeric embryos that I am describing would not be captured by new sub-paragraph (e), as embryos created by tetraploid complementation would start as predominantly animal, with very little human DNA contribution. They may develop to have predominantly human DNA only after the first 14 days of development. In the examples that the eminent experts discussed in the Joint Committee, the human or animal definitions could not easily be applied. This argument may seem to have no relevance to the Bill. The hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris), with whom I have debated the matter on many occasions, may suggest that. However, since those embryos would fall under animal legislation, the 14-day rule and the no-implantation rule, which I concede are in the Bill, would not apply, so the embryos would not be permitted to be implanted into an animal womb. Thus, their development would continue to the stage where human DNA would potentially overwhelmingly predominate in the developing foetus. The third reason is that although clause 3 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 bans the implantation of an entirely human embryo in an animal—we would all unite and agree on that—and, as we know, the ban is retained in the Bill, if an embryo created by the mechanism of tetraploid complementation were to be implanted, it would not be entirely human at that stage. That is the crucial issue. At the pre-implantation stage it would be defined as not human, and it would not fall within the remit of the Bill. It would then supposedly come under the auspices of animal legislation. My point is that it would not; it would tend to be unregulated. Even if the particular embryo were subsequently to develop into an entirely human embryo, it would escape the ban. That is why the issue is crucial.