Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 28 January (WA 269), whether the pronuclei are themselves nuclei if they each contain nuclear DNA within its own unique membrane; whether a zygote is an embryo as defined in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008; and whether a pronucleus is therefore a particular type of embryonic nucleus. [HL5060]
Answer
Section 1 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, states that references to an embryo include an egg that is in the process of fertilisation or is undergoing any other process capable of resulting in an embryo. Therefore, a zygote is considered an embryo for the purposes of the Act.
As regards the noble Lord's question on pronuclei, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it has nothing further to add to the previous response on this issue.