APPENDIX 20
Memorandum from Professor Roger A Pedersen
I speak as someone who trained and practiced
both basic embryology research and assisted reproductive technologies
in the United States before moving in 2001 to the United Kingdom
to conduct research on human embryo-derived pluripotent stem cells.
It is entirely clear to me that the well-considered,
highly regulated circumstances allowing embryo research under
auspices of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 provide
a unique platform for research benefiting not only infertile patients,
but also those afflicted by a host of other disease amenable to
future treatments through stem cell research. While admittedly
controversial, the Act provides for a careful balance between
appropriate moral respect for living human cells, while at the
same time conferring benefits of embryo research on members of
the entire society. Moreover, this balance has been achieved by
an extensive process of deliberation and consultation over a period
of many years. Indeed, it is apparent that the development of
public policies enabling embryo research to proceed under regulative
scrutiny here in the United Kingdom is a major accomplishment
that will accrue substantial health and economic benefits to the
people of the United Kingdom. In sum, I would invoke the adage,
"If it is not broken, do not fix it." The Act, and its
implementing agency, the HFEA, function admirably to the benefit
of the entire society, and therefore should be continued in force
without alteration for the foreseeable future.
May 2004
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