§ Lord Walton of Detchantasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the brain damage and progressive muscular weakness which result from mitochondrial disease, they intend to introduce regulations to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 so as to permit nuclear transfer from the ovum of a mother carrying an abnormal mitochondrial gene into a donated ovum, thus enabling these women to have normal children, who would carry the full complement of the maternal nuclear DNA. [HL2533]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hayman)The joint report from the Human Genetics Advisory Commission and the Human Fertilisation and EmbryologyAuthority Cloning Issues in Reproductive Science and Medicine recommended that regulations should be made under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 to allow research on human embryos for two additional purposes: developing methods of therapy for mitochondrial disease and developing methods of therapy for diseased or damaged tissues or organs.
The Government's response to the recommendations of that report will be published shortly.