Society, Religion and Technology Project - Church & Society Council (Scottish Charity Number SC011353) Ethical Problems with Cloned Embryo Research The creation of the first cloned human embryos was announced by Korean scientists in early 2004- though these claims were later shown to be false. Proposals for research in the UK involving human embryos to create stem cells have received prominent media coverage. Research using cloned human embryos is formally legal in the UK but remains ethically controversial. The European Commission's ethical advisory group considered it premature and the European Parliament has voted against it. The Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) Project has been at the forefront of ethical debates on cloning since 1996, because of its long standing engagement with researchers in the field. This information sheet evaluates some of the issues. Links to Reproductive Cloning The term “cloning” is linked to two related techniques. “Therapeutic” cloning refers to the generation of early embryos with the intention that these should not develop beyond 14 days. The stated aim of many therapeutic cloning research proposals is to improve the efficiency of making cloned human embryos for stem cell research. However, similar technology could equally be applied to “reproductive” human cloning, which is intended to result in the birth of a baby. Although this is illegal in the UK and many other countries, certain maverick scientists have made much publicity of their intention to make and implant cloned embryos to create cloned babies, regardless of major risks and ethical objections. It seems unwise to allow research which would make it easier for them to do so in some other country where there was little or no regulation. The UK bears a moral responsibility to the wider international community for the outcomes of its actions here. The Church of Scotland was among the first to call for a ban on human reproductive cloning in May 1997, and continues to do so. Problems with 'Therapeutic' Cloning Research proposals involving therapeutic cloning cite as part of their justification that they could eventually lead to treatments for degenerative diseases. This is the idea of creating cloned embryos from a patient’s own body cells. These cloned embryos would then be a source of stem cells which could be used to make replacement cells that are genetically matched, and so avoid the possibility of rejection of cells derived from IVF embryos. Substantial doubts have, however, been raised by leading UK scientists about the expense and practicability of applying therapeutic cloning in routine clinical practice. If the method were to benefit the wide range of diseases for which the case for therapeutic cloning was originally made, it would imply creating cloned embryos for perhaps hundreds of thousands of patients. This in turn might require millions of donated human eggs. The donation of intimate tissues by an invasive and sometimes painful procedure on such a scale is without precedent. It could also raise ethical concerns about the pressures that might be put on women to donate: many IVF clinics now offer reduced fees to women who agree to donate eggs for research purposes. Therapeutic cloning of this type is therefore unlikely to be practical for routine use. If on the other hand only a few eggs were available, these therapies would be available only for a select few. This means that, despite the claims made by many about therapeutic cloning, it would not then be a medical breakthrough for humanity as a whole but only a technique for those rich enough to afford it. The case for cloned embryo research for therapy is thus dubious, compared with using stem cells from more readily available spare IVF embryos. In addition many who accept the use of surplus IVF embryos for stem cell research (since these would be destroyed anyway) object to the idea of creating of embryos solely for the purpose of destroying them to extract stem cells. This is seen as too “instrumental” a way of using human embryos. Cloning using Cow Eggs and Human Cells Due to the practical difficulties of obtaining suitable human eggs, it has been proposed that an alternative source of embryonic cells should be “cytoplasmic hybrids” (also know as “cybrids). This technique, which has already been carried out at the University of Newcastle, involves making cloned embryos from human cells and eggs from cows (or other mammals). This raises as many ethical problems as it might solve. The Chief Medical Officer's committee on human embryo stem cell research and its ethical issues recommended in 2000 "The mixing of human adult (somatic) cells with the live eggs of any animal species should not be permitted." This view has previously been endorsed by the UK Government, who called upon bodies funding research “to make it clear that they will not fund or support research involving the creation of such hybrids." Following intense pressure from some in the scientific community, the position of the government has now been reversed, however: the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill 2008 currently under consideration in parliament allows for the creation of such human- animal cybrids Parthenogenetic Embryos Another suggested alternative is the creation of parthenogenetic human embryos as sources of stem cells. This involves chemically inducing an unfertilised human egg cell to divide as if it was an embryo. Some argue that this would overcome the ethical problems with stem cells derived from normal human embryos because, for fundamental genetic reasons, these parthenogenetic embryos would not be able to produce viable human offspring. Others see this as a very dubious argument. Many would hold strong ethical objections to the use of a method which deliberately created human embryos which are so highly defective that they would not be viable. It could also be argued that the creation of inherently unstable and defective embryos is inconsistent with the concept that the embryo has a ‘special status’, upon which the current Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act was based. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2006 resolved to “oppose the creation for research or therapy of parthenogenetic human embryos, animal-human hybrid or chimeric embryos, or human embryos that have been deliberately made non-viable” Cloning Embryos for Research The primary use of cloned human embryos is unlikely to be for routine therapeutic use to treat degenerative disease. The main uses might be in research, for example to make disease state cells, to study motor neuron disease or diabetes. Cloned embryos would be created from a patient’s cells, and stem cells taken from them to generate a continuous supply of the diseased cells. Would this be justified? A House of Lords select committee concluded that cloned embryos "should not be created for research purposes unless there is a demonstrable and exceptional need which cannot be met by the use of surplus embryos." Speculative research is not enough justification. Are these exceptional cases? It is generally difficult to keep disease cells alive which are taken directly from patients, and some processes of extraction of cells are extremely difficult. Some researchers would claim that embryonic stem cell cloning techniques would overcome such problems. These claims require a careful medical evaluation of the realistic expectations by comparison with other options, such as induced pluripotent (IP) stem cells or umbilical cord blood cells. We would urge that care should be taken not to resort to the drastic step of creating cloned human embryos. Any major medical benefits which nothing else could hope to achieve are by no means clear thus far. ___________________________________________________________________________ For more information about these or other ethical issues in technology: - SRT Project, Church and Society Council, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN Tel: 0131 225 5722. Fax: 0131 240 2239, eMAIL: srtp@cofscotland.org.uk Website: www.churchofscotland.org.uk/councils/churchsociety/cssrtp.htm Revised May 2008