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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Embryo_research
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1992-09-02
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The study of human embryos at an early stage,
in order to detect hereditary disease and
genetic defects, and to investigate the
problems of subfertility and infertility. The
UK Medical Research Council laid down in 1982
that experiments on human embryos were
acceptable for approved research purposes,
provided both donors agreed. There must also
be no intent to transfer the embryo to the
uterus, or to culture it beyond the stage
when implantation was possible. The Warnock
Report 1984 proposed to limit experiment to
up to 14 days after fertilization (the point
at which it becomes possible to determine
whether the embryo will become a single
individual or a multiple birth). It also
recommended strict controls on AID
(artificial insemination by donor); IVF (in
vitro fertilization), fertilization outside
the body (`test-tube baby') when either the
sperm or the egg (or both) do not necessarily
come from the couple involved as eventual
parents; and condemned surrogate motherhood,
or `womb leasing', in which a woman is
artificially inseminated and bears a child
for another couple. In 1990 the UK Parliament
voted to continue experiments on embryos up
to 14 days old.