Doctors are offering half price fertility treatment to women prepared to donate eggs for stem cell research, it has emerged.
Researchers at the North-East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) claim that the offer, approved by the General Medical Council four months ago, is necessary to meet a pressing need for unfertilised human eggs.
But the move has already provoked fury from ethics and religious groups who have accused the clinic of exploitation.
The harvested eggs are used to carry out research into potential cures for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.
Six of the women who have signed up for the scheme will begin in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment at the Newcastle Fertility Centre this month.
They will be charged about £1,500 – about half the usual fee for IVF.
When the scheme was announced in September, the team were inundated with phone calls from women in the North-East and North Yorkshire willing to take part.
Professor Alison Murdoch, who is leading the project at NESCI, said: "We have received 100 calls in ten days. It was an overwhelming response."
All of the potential donors were asked to fill in a detailed questionnaire and then counselled by a nurse at the Centre for Life, in Newcastle.
"We are not keen to treat people who have not had IVF before," said Prof Murdoch.
"Ideally, we only want people who have had IVF in the past and who have grown an adequate number of eggs."
This is because the research team do not wish to reduce the chances of women undergoing IVF treatment having a healthy baby.
She added: "We give the women lots of information, both written and orally.
"These are intelligent, young, fit and healthy women we are seeing.
"They badly want to have a baby and they are capable of making their decisions."
The Newcastle team made headlines around the world three years ago when they became the first to clone human embryos, using a revolutionary technique called "nuclear transfer".
This involves "hollowing out" the centre of a donated human egg and injecting the DNA taken from another person into the egg.
By stimulating the egg in a laboratory, scientists hope to understand how cells can be "reprogrammed" to produce different kinds of human tissue.
If scientists succeed, it could lead to a groundbreaking approach to treating illnesses, injuries and burns by helping individual patients regenerate damaged tissue.
Naturally, many religious groups remain opposed to embryonic stem cell research.
via Daily Mail
Loading ...