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A scientific technique that could allow
same-sex couples to create their own biological child in a laboratory
should be allowed under law, a group of influential scientists said on
Monday.
The experts, all international leaders in
embryology research, called on ministers not to restrict such
"important" research.
The laboratory creation of eggs and sperm
from other cells could offer hope to thousands of people unable to have
children of their own.
Although the creation of both sperm and
eggs in a laboratory is still at an early stage, the Hinxton group,
made up of 40 world-renowned experts, estimates that the procedure
could be used to create human foetuses within 15 years.
Creating sperm from female instead of
male cells could take longer but was still "possible", they said.
John
Harris, a member of the group and a professor of bioethics at the
University of Manchester, said that ministers should not impede the
research.
"The real ethical issue at the moment is to ensure that the important
scientific research can continue," he said.
( How
does the claim made by John Harris compare against Hubble's claim #3 in
our text from Crowe?
"...science "is barred from the world of values." It can in some ways
influence values, but the reverse should not take place.", from page 3
in Modern Theories of the
Universe, M. J. Crowe, Dover Publications, 1994 --KAA)
The call was made after a conference on
ethics and stem cell research and follows the tabling of a Liberal
Democrat amendment to the Government's controversial Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which could speed up the use of
"artificial" eggs and sperm in fertility clinics.
The Bill, as it stands, would prevent
such eggs or sperm being given to infertile women. The amendment, which
was tabled by Evan Harris MP, would allow the technique to be used in
fertility clinics without the need for extra legislation.
Josephine Quintavalle, from Comment on
Reproductive Ethics, a campaign group, said the technique went against
the natural reproductive process and could result in passing genetic
fertility problems on to offspring.
The idea of babies being created without
a biological father was "scary", she added.
ETHICS -
Definition
plural
noun
| 1. |
(used
with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture. |
| 2. |
the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a
particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.:
medical ethics; Christian
ethics; legal ethics. |
| 3. |
moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence. |
| 4. |
(usually
used with a singular verb) that
branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct,
with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to
the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions. |
Moral - Definition
adjective
| 1. |
of,
pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right
conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical: moral attitudes. |
| 2. |
expressing or conveying truths or counsel as to
right conduct, as a speaker or a literary work; moralizing: a moral novel. |
| 3. |
founded on the
fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities,
enactment, or custom: moral obligations. |
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