It was a relief last month when the European Commission decided not to modify legislation on research involving the destruction of human embryos in response to a petition by the One of Us pro-life group. Even so, it is time to put a stop to this 'democracy carousel' (see Nature 508, 287; 2014).
Such citizen campaigns against embryo destruction disregard the births of more than 5 million babies as a result of advances in reproductive medicine. Moreover, selective abortion following an adverse genetic diagnosis can often be avoided, owing to advances in screening embryos before implantation. And embryonic stem-cell research is opening up regenerative medicine, which may eventually provide therapies for conditions such as pancreatic failure and age-related macular degeneration.
Central to the debate is the ethical status of the human embryo between fertilization and implantation. Many believe that, although a zygote has the potential to develop into a person, it is not yet a person. On this basis, destruction of donated embryos for medical research can be justified provided the work is subject to strict regulation and supervision. Indeed, a recent (unpublished) study shows that donation of spare embryos is widely supported by couples undergoing in vitro fertilization in Europe.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Geraedts, J. Justifying embryo research in Europe. Nature 510, 340 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/510340d
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/510340d