Analysis: As the science outpaces the law, scientists should proceed cautiously and clear boundaries must be set
Synthetic embryos sit at a unique juxtaposition: scientifically fascinating, ethically challenging and, for the most part, entirely unregulated by current legislation. The latest work by Prof Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz’s team brings these issues into stark relief and show that developments in this field are happening so quickly that the science is rapidly outpacing the law.
The motivation for creating embryo models in the lab is relatively uncontroversial. For the avoidance of doubt, there are no plans to create lab-grown babies. The aim is to obtain unprecedented insights into a window of human development that until now has largely remained a “black box” because it falls beyond the legal limit up to which scientists can cultivate embryos in the lab, and before a pregnancy’s progress can be detected on a scan.
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