§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
When was the first licence for embryonic stern cell research issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; to whom; and for what purposes. [HL621]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority issued the first licence on 4 March 1996 to the Assisted Conception Unit al the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, later varied to the 155WA Centre for Genome Research, for the culture of multipotential human embryo cells under the purposes specified in paragraph 3(2)(a), (b) and (e) of Schedule 2 to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many licences have been issued to date by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for embryonic stem cell research; to whom; and for what purposes. [HL622]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has licensed six such research projects. Three of these included proposals to derive embryonic stem cells for purposes specified under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 2 to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and three projects proposed to derive embryonic stem cells under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001. The information on the recipients of the licenses and the purpose of the projects is in the following tables.
Research licensed under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 2 to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 Location Project Status Assisted Conception Unit at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, later varied to the Centre for Genome Research, Edinburgh culture of multipotential human embryo cell Licensed April 1996, expired 30 September 2002 Sheffield Fertility Centre, Section of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine investigation of embryonic-endometrial dialogue during the peri-implantation period in vitro Licensed September 1998, ongoing Reproductive Medicine Centre for Life isolation and characterisation of cell-lines from human pre-implantation embryos Licensed September 2000, ongoing
156WA
Research carried out under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001 Location Project Status Centre for Genome Research, Edinburgh Derivation of pluripotent human embryo cell lines Licensed April 2002, ongoing Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital, London correlation of embryo morphology with ability to generate embryonic stem cell lines and subsequent growth and differentiative characteristics Licensed April 2002, ongoing London Fertility Centre Functional genomics of pluripotent stem cells and their progeny Licensed November 2002, ongoing
§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many licences have been issued to date by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for the creation of human embryos via cell nuclear replacement; to whom; and for what purposes. [HL623]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has issued no licences for the creation of human embryos via cell nuclear replacement.
§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether or not they intend to direct the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to communicate to the public:
- (a) all licence applications received by the authority prior to the granting of any licence;
- (b) the results of all licence applications including a detailed explanation of the authority's decision;
- (c) the identity of all peer reviewers;
- (d) an explanation of why there is no alternative research subject matter where permission is granted for research upon human embryos; and
- (e) the results of all licensed research. [HL625]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is increasingly open in its processes, with due regard to confidentiality when this is appropriate. The authority is currently reviewing procedures for handling research applications with the aim of making the process as open and transparent as possible.