Biological research rule consultations with Disabled people
Well Adapt is working with Ipsos and National Voices on public consultations about the biological research rule and whether it should change.
Ipsos are putting together a citizens summit to find out the public’s opinions on the subject, and the summit is intended to represent the demographic makeup of the UK. The summit will involve 100 people from across the UK, but since it won’t be accessible to everyone we are helping run some separate consultations for Disabled people.
What Is The Biological Research Rule?
The rule states that once an egg is fertilised, it becomes an embryo and from that moment researchers are allowed to do biomedical research on it for 14 days before they are legally required to destroy it.
Why Is The Consultation Happening?
Ipsos are looking into whether the public thinks that rule should stay the same, or whether that time limit should be extended now that we have the technological capability to keep embryos alive for longer than 14 days in the lab, and by how much.
For example, a longer research time will give us a lot more information about embryo development. But at 14 days, we know embryos don’t feel pain so people might want to maintain that time limit.
What Will/Did Well Adapt Do?
Well Adapt will hold separate consultations with Disabled people who would find the summit inaccessible, so they can still take part and share their opinions.
Well Adapt will also help facilitate these consultations with Disabled people by recruiting people to take part and making sure the consultations are accessible.
Biomedical research often involves questions of whether disabilities can be mitigated or prevented, and it is important that Disabled people are part of the discussion to ensure that the research is ethical and inclusive.