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Embryo Research 'a fact' In Canada By DENNIS BUECKERT Canadian Press Monday, October 20, 2003 - Page A7 OTTAWA -- Research on human embryos is common at infertility clinics in Canada and has been for years, a prominent medical ethicist says. But activists against the research said they are shocked at the practice because it was not reported to the public or debated. Francoise Baylis, an ethicist at Dalhousie University, said in an interview that embryonic research is routine to maintain standards and improve success rates at in vitro fertilization clinics. "It is a fact that research is going on on embryos in this country, and has been explicitly permitted since 1987," said Prof. Baylis, who is about to publish a study on the availability of surplus embryos for research in Canada. She said that any high-quality fertility clinic seeking to improve its success rate will train staff and conduct research using surplus embryos. "If you're a person who's . . . having to manipulate a human embryo, you've got to learn to do it, right? What do you think you're going to learn on?" Prof. Baylis said MPs opposed to the research are logically inconsistent to ignore existing work while opposing a bill awaiting third reading in the House of Commons that would set guidelines for stem-cell research. The bill also would ban human cloning and regulate in vitro fertilization clinics. "When you have [Liberal MP] Paul Szabo saying he's going to kill this bill because it's going to allow for embryo research, I want to say, 'What do you think is going on right now?' "The research may not be happening with stem cells, but it's happening with embryos, and nobody's hiding that fact," Prof. Baylis said. She noted that 1987 guidelines issued by the Medical Research Council, a federal funding agency, explicitly permit research for 14 days after conception on surplus human embryos produced for infertility treatment. Those guidelines were essentially reiterated by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research last year. Embryonic research has an extremely low profile. For example, Jack Kitts of the Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Associations did not mention it when questioned by the Commons health committee last year. Asked what happens to surplus embryos at fertility clinics, Mr. Kitts replied: "My understanding is there are two choices. "They can currently remain frozen for an indefinite period of time or they can be discarded or destroyed." Prof. Baylis said the proposed federal legislation is more restrictive than existing guidelines, and if the bill dies on the Commons order paper -- as many predict -- it would mean fewer limits on research that right-to-life activists say they oppose. "There's an inconsistency in the position they're advocating," Prof. Baylis said. "If you really believe the embryo is protectable human life, you can't allow these other technologies to be taking place, because they, too, involve the destruction of embryos." SOURCE: The The Globe and Mail, Canada http://tinyurl.com/rpso * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn