Embryo Research Legislation
Well Adapt worked with various organisations on behalf of Nuffield Council on Bioethics and UKRI Sciencewise, on public consultations about the 14 day embryo research rule and whether it should change.
UKRI Sciencewise organised a citizens summit to find out the public’s opinions on the subject, and it was intended to represent the demographic makeup of the UK. The summit involved 100 people from across the UK, but since it wasn’t accessible to everyone we helped to run some separate consultations for Disabled people.
What Is The 14 Day Embryo Research Rule?
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act, also known as the 14 day 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 Did The Consultation Happen?
UKRI Sciencewise were 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 the more an embryo develops, the more ethical questions could come up, so people might want to maintain that time limit.
What Did Well Adapt Do?
Well Adapt held separate consultations with Disabled people who would find the summit inaccessible, so they could still take part and share their opinions.
Well Adapt also helped facilitate these consultations with Disabled people by recruiting people to take part and making sure the consultations were 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.