Two teams of researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States grew embryos until they were 13 days old.

The embryos were kept alive and active beyond the stage when they would naturally implant in a mother's womb

The longest that human embryos had previously been grown in the lab was nine days.

The latest research comes close to the 14-day limit for growing donated embryos that is long-established in law in many countries.

After the 14-day point, such laws usually state that the embryos must be destroyed.

In response to the latest research, L'Osservatore Romano published a front-page article in its May 10 edition by bioethicist Laura Palazzani.

The bioethicist lamented the use of human embryos as "guinea pigs of progress".

Arguing that the 14-day limit is arbitrary, Palazzani said that some researchers could find pretexts for far later limits, whether prenatal or postnatal.

All human beings are in a state continuous development from the moment of fertilisation, she continued, and embryos of whatever stage, without expressing consent, are being "destined to death" for the sake of scientific research.

The 14-day stage marks the point when the individuality of an embryo is assured, because it can no longer split into twins.

At about the same time, embryo forms what is called the "primitive streak", a faint band of cells that starts to distinguish the head from the tail.

Introduced in Britain 30 years ago, the 14-day rule aimed to give scientists room to study human embryos, while respecting wider views on embryo research.

Some scientists have called for an end to the 14 day limit in many countries.

Sources

• Catholic World News
• The Guardian
• Image: Caerus Art Residency

Institutions that don't comply will face a $20,000 fine.

A time limit was set by legislators 10 years ago.

From November 21, institutions like fertility clinics will not be able to keep frozen sperm, embryos, eggs and testicular tissue if they have stored them beyond 10 years.

Dozens of fertility clinic customers who have such material in storage have not been able to be contacted to date.

Anyone wanting an extension would need to apply to the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ECART) and their application would be considered on a case by case basis.

The United Kingdom has a five year legal storage period.

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The government said it would draft regulations to allow human embryos to be created in this way to avoid mitochondrial diseases.

But the director of Human Genetics Alert, called the method "unnecessary and unsafe" and said it would lead to "a eugenic designer baby market".

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Oregon Health & Science University scientists said they had used cloning techniques to create human embryos, 21 of whom they were able to sustain to the point at which stem cells were present, after which the embryos were killed and the stem cells harvested.

"Creating new human lives in the laboratory solely to destroy them is an abuse denounced even by many who do not share the Catholic Church's convictions on human life," said Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who heads the US Catholic bishops' pro-life activities committee.

The researchers said their goal is to produce genetically matched stem cells for research and possible therapies, but Cardinal O'Malley said the same goals can be achieved "by scientific advances that do not pose these grave moral wrongs".

Research using adult stem cells, or those derived after someone is born, as opposed to cells from embryos, has provided promising possibilities for treating some illnesses or injuries, but embryonic stem cells have not lived up to claims made for them.

The head researcher, Shoukhrat Mitalipov, has said the technique will not be used to produce babies because the team has not been able to do so with monkey embryos made in the same way.

He also dismissed ethical concerns about the embryos they had produced, saying they were not the equivalent of a human being because they were not fertilised naturally.

Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the US bishops' committee, said that as soon as human cells begin to divide into an embryo they are considered human life and that the destruction of such embryos is immoral.

"These researchers created many human embryos, male and female, and allowed them to grow for up to seven days, for the sole purpose of killing them and harvesting their stem cells," said the legislative director of the National Right to Life committee, Douglas Johnson.

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Agency

LifeSiteNews

Image: BBC