Embryology
House of Lords
Written answers and statements, 4 November 2009
Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench)
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answers by Lord Young of Norwood Green on 22 October (WA 89—90), which future projects involving provision of eggs to research in exchange for payment of in vitro fertilisation treatment costs are expected to benefit from a study of participants' experiences.
Lord Drayson (Minister of State, Ministry of Defence; Labour)
Since making the award for the research project "Improving the efficiency of human somatic cell nuclear transfer" to the University of Newcastle, the MRC has not funded further projects involving similar work. The MRC stated, when making this award, that it should not establish a precedent for other cases. In assessing any proposals to the MRC that may involve such research in future, the MRC's Council, and its Ethics, Regulation and Public Involvement Committee, will take account of the findings of the MRC-funded social science study as well as the outcomes of other high-quality work in this area.