April 18, 2024

Rescuing frozen embryos


April 16, 2010

Hi there,

Our lead story today
is not all that momentous, to be honest. That adjective could possibly be used of the news further
down the page that British scientists are on the road to creating babies whose
DNA comes from two mothers and one father.

But it’s the sort of drama which appeals to me because it shows the human
consequences of assisted reproduction. It is a case of embryo adoption, a
practice promoted by some Christian groups to “rescue” left-over IVF embryos
which would otherwise be used for research or, more probably, be discarded. But
even Christians, it seems, find it hard to grapple with the complex human
dilemmas thrown up when technology substitutes for nature.

If you come across similar stories, send them along. They give life to dry
scientific developments and academic debates.

Cheers,

Michael Cook
Editor