Extending Embryo Research

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2017

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since the birth of Louise Brown - the world’s first IVF baby - in England in 1978, many children have been born through in vitro fertilisation. IVF doesn’t work for everyone but over the last few decades basic research into human reproduction has brought about huge improvements.

In the UK the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, passed in 1990, made it illegal for research on human embryos to be permitted beyond 14 days. In a dozen other countries, from Canada and Australia to Iceland and South Korea the 14 day limit is enshrined in law and in five others, including China, India and the US, there are guidelines that recommend that limit.

Just recently researchers at Cambridge University have kept embryos alive in the lab for 13 days. They and others are calling for the limit to be extended for another one or two weeks, so they can study why early pregnancies fail. Matthew Hill reports on the issues raised by these new developments in embryo research.

Image: Light micrograph of fertilized human egg cell © Science Photo Library

Transcript

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0:14.0	Cladie Aide.
0:16.0	Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.
0:19.0	Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.
0:21.0	And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less
0:24.9	searching and a lot more watching listen on BBC sounds. Choosing what to
0:32.1	watch night after night the flicking through the endless
0:36.5	searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the
0:41.5	telly we share what we've been watching.
0:43.7	Cladie Aide!
0:45.7	Loads of games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.
0:48.2	Lovely.
0:49.0	Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.
0:51.2	And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less
0:54.7	searching and a lot more watching listen on BBC sounds. Thank you for
1:01.0	downloading from the BBC.
1:03.0	The details of our complete range of podcasts and our terms of use,
1:07.0	go to BBCworldservice.com slash podcasts.
1:10.0	My name's Jade Martin. I'm 35. I have a husband, Nathan. We've been married just over a year and we've been trying for a baby for around about four years.
1:25.0	Jade's story is very common.
	...

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