Embryology

House of Lords written question – answered at on 28 June 2007.

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Photo of Lord Alton of Liverpool Lord Alton of Liverpool Crossbench

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the creation of an animal embryo that has been altered by the introduction of one or more human cells comes under the reserved matters set out in the Scotland Act 1998, bearing in mind that an embryonic animal-human chimera that is destroyed before half the gestation or incubation period has elapsed does not come under the remit of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Photo of Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Minister of State, Department of Health, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Minister of State (Department of Health) (NHS Reform)

The Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) regulates procedures applied to protected animals for experimental and other scientific purposes that may cause the animal pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. Protected animals are defined under the Act to include any living vertebrate other than man which has reached a specified developmental stage. For mammals, this is when half the gestation or incubation period for the relevant species has elapsed.

An animal embryo altered for an experimental or other scientific purpose by the introduction of one or more human cells would be governed by the provisions of the ASPA once it reached the halfway point of gestation or incubation because for the purposes of the Act it would be considered to be a living vertebrate other than man. The subject matter of the ASPA is a reserved matter under Part II B7 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998.

Section 1(3) (b) of the ASPA enables the Secretary of State by order to alter the stage of development at which an animal attains protected status under the ASPA, therefore allowing an animal in its embryonic form to become a protected animal and subject to the regulation of the Act. In the light of that power, scientific procedures applied to animals at an earlier developmental stage are covered by the reservation.

We therefore take the view that the creation of an animal embryo altered for an experimental or other scientific purpose by the introduction of one or more human cells falls within the subject matter of the ASPA for the purposes of the Scotland Act 1998 and is a reserved matter.

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