In response to the creation of Britain’s first ‘virgin conception’ human embryo, the Christian Medical Fellowship has called on the government to restrain the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) who approved the research. In a press briefing at the British Association festival of science, Paul de Sousa, a researcher at the Roslin Institute which cloned Dolly the sheep, said that his team had created so-called parthenotes, which are early-stage embryos that are made from a single egg, without sperm, reported the Guardian newspaper.
The move has further dismayed pro-life groups and Christian medical agencies, who believe that the modern advances in stem cell research are leading to a decline in ethical values.
Six parthenotes have been made so far by taking donated eggs from women that were going through sterilisation. An electric shock was given to the egg to make them divide. The intention was to harvest stem cells for the parthenotes, said Dr De Sousa, but the team had not been successful yet.
Embryonic cells are the master cells of the body that can turn into any tissue in the body. They can be harvested in the form of a ball of cells called balstocyst when the embryo is just a few days old.
CMF General Secretary Peter Saunders commented, ‘It is true that parthenotes are not produced by fertilisation, but nonetheless they do behave like embryos by dividing and producing stem cells and we know that in some species of insects and reptiles they develop into adults. Parthenogenesis has been observed in many lower animals and in some social insects, like the honeybee and the ant, gives rise to male drones. This suggests that despite having lives that are profoundly defective and abbreviated, human parthenotes should nonetheless be treated with the utmost respect. At the very least they should be given the benefit of the doubt. To create embryos in this way with the intention of cannibalising them for stem cells shows a profound disrespect for human life.
It is true that parthenotes are not produced by fertilisation, but nonetheless they do behave like embryos by dividing and producing stem cells and we know that in some species of insects and reptiles they develop into adults.
CMF General Secretary Peter Saunders
Scientists say that they want to use the cells for research to develop treatments for many diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The human parthenotes would never be implanted into a womb, said Dr Sousa. This is outlawed by his research license.
“Even from the perspective of those who approve research on human embryos, it seems extremely unlikely that stem cells derived from parthenotes could ever be of any therapeutic value. The same defects that render the human parthenote nonviable would likely render its stem cells non-functional or dangerous if transplanted into a patient. It is therefore disingenuous of the Roslin institute to attempt to justify this sort of research by claiming that it is being done to help provide treatments for people with degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and diabetes.”
