Embryo dilemma
Sir: The excellent article by Michael Trend on the Government's proposed legislation on embryo research (`Before I formed thee in the belly . . .', 20 January), failed to point out that the much vaunted free vote is a chimera, a fanciful conception.
Under the definitions of the Bill an embryo does not exist until 40 hours after conception, when the two-celled zygote has appeared. Such a definition allows 40 hours of experimentation whichever way the vote goes. Equally in Schedule 2, in which licences for treatment are defined, as opposed to those for research, is in- cluded 'practices designed to secure that embryos are in a suitable condition to be placed in a woman or to determine whether embryos are suitable for that purpose'.
A more wide ranging opportunity for experimentation would be difficult to im- agine, and MPs voting against overt experi- mentation would be compelled to approve it
Peter Doherty
Guild of Catholic Doctors, Southwark Branch, 60 Nassau Road, London SW13
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