News & Events
MPs give embryonic stem cell research the green light
20 May 2008
Last night (19 May), an overwhelming majority of MPs voted to allow human-admixed embryos to be used in medical research.The Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association welcomes this support from the House of Commons as this clause of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill will open up a potentially exciting avenue of research. Permitting the use of human-admixed embryos in research will accelerate the search for effective treatments and provide hope to those affected by MND and other incurable degenerative diseases.
The Association supports this type of stem cell research because at present there is no viable way of studying diseased human motor neurones in the laboratory, which is greatly inhibiting our understanding of MND and the search for much-needed effective treatments.
Stem cells derived from human-admixed embryos would offer us a potential source of motor neurones for research. The use of an animal egg as an empty vessel for the creation of human embryos overcomes the limiting factor of the availability of donated human eggs. Less than 0.1% of the genetic material in the resulting embryo is animal and work is being done to further reduce this figure.
Dr Kirstine Knox, Chief Executive of the MND Association, says: "We welcome MP support because allowing the use of human-admixed embryos in tightly regulated scientific research may revolutionise the future treatment of motor neurone disease. The case for the use of human-admixed embryos in stem cell research is compelling. It holds the potential to save lives and could play a crucial role in unlocking the secrets to this devastating disease.”
Lembit Opik MP, President of the Association, spoke several times during the debate and in all MND was mentioned 17 times.
