Egg donation decision sparks controversy
Thursday, 21 Dec 2006 13:30
Debates continually rage over stem cell research
Science In Focus
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A decision to grant a licence to a team of stem cell researchers to begin recruiting egg donors for research while a consultation into the issue is ongoing has been criticised by a leading UK medic.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has allowed a team from Newcastle University to recruit women who are not already undergoing medical treatment to donate eggs for research.
But this issue is currently under a public consultation and a decision relating to it is not expected until February next year.
Dr Stephen Minger, a stem cell scientist at Kings College London, has strongly criticised the decision, saying that he finds it "bizarre" and has two main issues with it.
Speaking on the Today programme, he said: "One relates to whether or not this is an appropriate granting of a licence in the first instance, whether we should be allowing women to donate eggs for ... therapeutic cloning.
"And secondly, whether this should have been granted during the consultation process. I find the granting of a licence during a consultation process quite bizarre. I think it would have been better to have waited until after the consultation process was completed."
Professor Colin Blakemore, head of the Medical Research Council, defended the HFEA's decision on the same programme.
"At the time this licence was granted, as I understand it, the regulations were such that there was no irregularity in doing so," he said.
And the HFEA said in a statement that the granting of the licence to one centre would not affect the outcome of the consultation's decision and that it has a "statutory obligation to consider research applications" and "must deal with them".
The statement added: "The centre has agreed to provide the HFEA with information on egg donation for research arising from setting up the research and this will be extremely helpful to the policy review.
"The centre is fully aware that if a new HFEA policy following the consultation does not allow altruistic egg donation then the licence committee would be able to reconsider their decision under the new circumstances.
"Therefore the centre is aware that their licence could be reconsidered in the light of the consultation report, and agreed to provide the HFEA with regular information on their work in the meantime time to inform our decision making."