Fertility research ‘held back’

Important fertility studies are being held back by New Zealand’s “restrictive by default” stance on using viable human embryos, researchers say.

The authors of a just-published study are now calling on the Government to review current rules.

Researchers wanting to carry out studies using embryos are required to go through the ministerial ethics committee. That body — the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology, or Ecart — was required to formulate their decisions using guidelines published by another advisory group to the Minister of Health.

Because the 13-year-old guidelines only allowed for human embryos for research using non-viable human embryos, Ecart wasn’t able to grant ethics approval.

Authors of the study, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal yesterday, argued the stance on the “use” of embryos for reproductive research effectively allowed fertility clinics to provide reproductive treatments, while holding back all potential research projects that could improve these existing treatments.

“We suggest that the Minister of Health instructs ministerial advisory committees to review the current guidelines and to define the term ‘use of embryos’,” said lead author Professor Cindy Farquhar, of the University of Auckland.

The Ministry of Health’s group manager of quality, assurance and safety, Emma Prestidge, said the ministry wasn’t looking at reviewing the guidelines as that responsibility fell to Ecart. Gillian Ferguson, Ecart’s chairwoman, could not be reached for comment yesterday.— Jamie Morton