Ethical Concern about Human Embryo Research

The main ethical concern in embryo research has been the alleged immorality of using embryos for research purposes. However, one should not forget that embryo research has non procreative interests as well which  includes :

1. Improvement of knowledge in treatment of infertility.

2. Improvement of contraception

3. Treatment and prevention of cancer

4. Treatment and prevention of birth defects

Embryo research denigrates the importance of human life by treating embryos as means rather than ends. Embryo research could harm children, only if the embryos used in research are then placed in the uterus of a woman(34).

The ethical concerns which surround embryo research include :

1. Creation of embryos solely for research purposes.

2. Limits on purposes of embryo research

3. Transfer to the uterus after research

4. Keeping embryos alive in vitro for more than fourteen days.

These concerns should be alleviated if tight guidelines and legislations are implimented to regulate embryo research. These guidelines and legislations were thoroughly discussed at the first international conference on Bioethics in Human Reproduction Research in the Muslim World held in Cairo during the period 10 - 13 Dec., 1991(23). It was agreed between scientists religious leaders, lawyers, philosophers, ethicists, social scientists and policy makers participating in the meeting that research would occur only on spare embryos created as a by-product of IVF treatment of infertility after obtaining the free informed consent of the couple. However, the wide use of cryopreservation of extraembryos has limited the number of embryos that would be donated for research. The other source of embryos for research would be creation of embryos solely for research purposes. This would pose an important question : Is creating embryos, for research purposes solely, a reproductive liberty ? Creating embryos for research purposes solely is not a reproductive liberty. It is an act of liberty in the use of one's reproductive capacity(34).

One would ceratinly ask : Is there a significant moral difference between research on embryos created solely for research purposes and research on spare, discarded embryos ?

Though most commissions now accept a wide degree of embryo research, ethical controversy continues to surround the production of embryos solely for research purposes. Does the Symbolic benefits of protecting embryos from being created solely for research purposes justify this loss ? Legally, only a few European nations and Victoria, Australia, prohibit the creation of embryos solely for research purposes(34).

The International Conference on Bioethics in Human Reproduction Research in the Muslim World held in Cairo December 10th - 13th, 1991, endorsed the following statements on this issue guided by previous recommendations and the recent development in this rapidly developing scientific field(20, 23) :

1. Cryopreserved pre-embryos may be used for research purposes with the free informed consent of the couple.

2. Research conducted on pre-embryos should be limited to therapeutic researches. The treated embryos shall be transferred only to the uterus of the wife who is the owner of the ova and only during the validity of marriage contract. This should be applicable to researches involving microsurgical techniques as sperm pronuclear extraction to correct polyspermy(35) and genetic diagnosis of a portion of the embryo; one blastomere or its nucleus for a specific genetic defect(36).

3. Researches aimed at changing the inherited characteristics of pre-embryos including sex selection are forbidden.

4. The free informed consent of the couple should be obtained before pre-embryos are subjected to non therapeutic researches. These pre-embryos are not to be transferred to the uterus of the wife or that of any other woman.

5. Researches of commercial nature or those not related to the health of mother or child are not allowed.

6. The researches should be conducted in research institutes of sound repute such as specialized research institutes. The researchers should have medical justification and should be a skilled researcher.

Respect for the origin and human character of the fertilized ovum (pre-embryos) dictates the restrictions placed on the researches conducted on them. Research should be conducted with specific goals, on a very limited scale and under strict control.