Embryo research laws

Geraldine Peacock, the vice president of the Parkinson’s Disease Society, supports the embryo bill:

What this legislation is proposing is nothing radically new, ethically speaking. The use of human embryos was legislated for in 1990. Research mixing human and animal cells has been a key tool in biomedical investigation for years. The new legislation ensures that human admixed embryos are conferred the same regulatory status and respect as human embryos.

Stem cells offer the best chance for scientists to understand why our body cells act in the way they do. Theoretically, they are all the same but how and why they form, deteriorate and perform different functions remains largely a mystery. Generating stem cells in this way, using animal eggs as “holders” for the developing cells, allows scientists to work much faster. The understanding that this could bring would be invaluable to all human beings, not just ones with degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. Unless you understand how the body functions, you cannot cure it.

“This bill gives me hope,” he said. See what’s in the bill.