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5. Debate: Embryo Research: The Ethics of Embryo Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2021

Peter Singer  and
Helga Kuhse
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Extract

Research on the embryo offers the prospect of important medical advances. The first and most immediate prospect is in improving the success rate of in vitro fertilization. Without the prospect of such improvement, it may be doubted if the muchapplauded IVF program is worth the resources now being allocated to it. Embryo research is also needed to ensure that embryos created from frozen human ova will develop normally, and to test techniques for micro-injection of sperm directly into the ovum, which could overcome the problem of male infertility due to low sperm count or abnormal sperm. The next area of research will be into the prevention of genetic defects. If defects can be identified in early embryos, couples who carry defective genes and would otherwise seek testing during pregnancy, followed by abortion if the test is positive, will be able to use IVF followed by the transfer only of those embryos that are free from the defect. Further research may lead to the development of gene therapy, which could be effective in those cases where an individual has already been born with a single-gene defect like thalassemia, sickle-cell anemia, ADA and PNP deficiencies, and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.

Type
Part I: New Reproductive Technologies
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 14 , Issue 3-4 , September 1986 , pp. 133 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1986

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References

We are grateful for the assistance of several members of the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University who are involved in a research project on early human life, with the support of the National Health and Medical Research Council. Our thanks are particularly due to Brumby, Margaret Dawson, Karen Kasimba, Pascal Swan, John, and Waller, Louis.Google Scholar
For details on the need for such research and its prospects, see submissions and transcripts of evidence given to the Australian Senate Select Committee on the Human Embryo Experimentation Bill, 1985, by Prof. de Kretser, D., Dr. Trounson, A., Dr. Kola, I., Dr. Wilton, L., Dr. Rogers, P., Dr. Laws-King, A., and Prof. Wood, C., as reprinted in Hansard, Feb. 25, 1986, pp. 3–128, esp. pp. 6–8, 12–15, 18–27. See also Stumbling Blocks Pave Path to Clinical Trials for Gene Therapy, JAMA, April 11, 1986, at 1825–32.Google Scholar
See the submissions and testimony, supra note 2. On cancer research, see 1. Kola, Fetal Antigens and Cancer, in Basic Medical Sciences, 3d ed. (University of Cape Town Publishers, in press). The use of blood stem cells from human embryos to overcome sickle-cell anemia and leukemia was also suggested by Prof. Edwards, R., in a Paper presented to the Fourth World Congress on IVF, Melbourne, Australia, 1985.Google Scholar
See the submissions and testimony, supra note 2.Google Scholar
For an expert opinion on when the fetus may begin to be capable of feeling pain, see the report of the British government's Advisory Group on Fetal Research, chaired by Sir Peel, John, The Use of Fetuses and Fetal Material for Research (London: HMSO, 1972). A clear summary of some relevant scientific evidence, with further references, can be found in Tooley, M., Abortion and Infanticide (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), at 347–407.Google Scholar
Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation and Embryology, chaired by Warnock, Dame Mary (London: HMSO, 1984), pars. 11.19–11.22; Committee to Consider the Social, Ethical and Legal Issues Arising from In Vitro Fertilization (Victoria), Report on the Disposition of Embryos Produced by In Vitro Fertilization, chaired by Prof. Waller, Louis (Melbourne: Government Printer, 1984), par. 3.29.Google Scholar
Stumbling Blocks, supra note 2, esp. p. 1832.Google Scholar
Report on the Disposition of Embryos, supra note 6, par. 3.27.Google Scholar
See Prof. Waller's testimony before the Australian Senate Select Committee supra note 2, at 1458–59.Google Scholar