In the Netherlands, allowed to grow human embryos for research

The government of the Netherlands allowed scientists to experiment with growing human embryos. Research should, in particular, help people with hereditary or congenital diseases. In this case, it is supposed to strictly control the study and abide by the 14-day rule of embryo development adopted by the laws of many countries.

Prior to this, it was forbidden to grow human embryos in the Netherlands - research could only be carried out on embryos left over from artificial insemination. But science cannot develop without experiments — it is necessary to study the development of the embryo from the first day of its existence in order to help people with hereditary diseases, or diseases caused by defects in genes.
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In addition, this study will certainly help to fight against infertility (in particular, people who have become infertile due to cancer treatment at a fairly early age need help) and improve artificial insemination techniques.

Netherlands Health Minister Edith Schippers [Edith Schippers] reported that "he wants to allow the creation of embryos for scientific purposes, and under very strict control, to allow people to have healthy children."


Dutch Health Minister Edith Schippers

The study of embryos will not go beyond the international rule of "14 days", according to which, after two weeks of existence, the object of research must be destroyed. Although scientists would study the embryo with great interest all the time of its development, advocates of ethics in medical research argue about when a human embryo becomes human.

Earlier this year, a team of scientists from the UK received the right to edit the genome of the human embryo. The purpose of their work is to study the characteristics of the early stages of human life. British scientists were among the first to be allowed to genetically modify embryos.

At the beginning of this month, scientists from Cambridge for the first time were able to support the growth of a human embryo in the laboratory during the first two weeks of its development. Previously, it was possible to do this outside the uterus for no more than nine days, after which the embryo died.