{"id":246345,"date":"2021-06-07T11:35:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T16:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=246345"},"modified":"2021-06-06T00:45:36","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T05:45:36","slug":"expand-age-embryos-experimentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/expand-age-embryos-experimentation\/","title":{"rendered":"International group wants to scrap restrictions on human embryo experimentation"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

New guidelines<\/a> issued by the world’s largest stem cell research group call for<\/a>\u00a0the scrapping of the restriction that prohibits labs from growing and experimenting on embryos older than 14 days. While the suggestion holds no legal binding, the group is calling for an open discussion on expanding the age limit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Driving the revised guidelines of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is the argument from some scientists that 14 to 28 days\u2019 gestation is a critical time period that requires study, and that extending the ability to research preborn babies at this age could lead to breakthroughs on <\/span>miscarriage, infertility, and congenital defects<\/span><\/a>. Such advancements, they argue, outweigh the status of the human embryo as human persons. Bioethicists point out that removing this limit would open the rhetorical floodgates, ultimately resulting in the removal of all limits. And while some other countries that allow experiments using human embryos are free to ignore it, the 14-day rule has been the guiding principle internationally.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time the rule was created, scientists were not able to sustain human embryos in the lab beyond 14 days. However, fourteen days post-fertilization is also an important milestone, as around this time the central nervous system starts to develop. It is also the point past which the embryo could split into twins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0