Embryos created for stem cell research

Researchers from the Jones Institute, a private infertility clinic in Virginia, United States, have disclosed that they have created human embryos for the explicit purpose of harvesting them for stem cells (Fertility and Sterility 2001;76:125-31). The embryos were then destroyed.

This move marks the first known time that egg and sperm donors have been recruited specifically to produce embryos for stem cell harvesting. This runs counter to current recommendations from the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, the National Institutes of Health, and the ethics advisory board of the European Commission.

Previously, stem cells derived from human embryos were harvested from “left over” frozen embryos created by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for sterile couples.

The …