Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2014-06-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the safety of embryos created using the DNA of three individuals.

Earl Howe

An expert panel, convened by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, has conducted three reviews of the safety and efficacy of methods to avoid mitochondrial disease through assisted conception. The reports of the reviews were published in April 2011, March 2013 and, most recently, on 3 June 2014.

All three reviews have found no evidence to suggest any of the techniques evaluated are unsafe. In its most recent report, the expert panel recommended that additional experiments should be completed before the techniques were used in clinical practice. The Government is considering the report and will announce its plans as soon as possible.