Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 9 July (WA 49), whether they consider that the inability of three reviews to find evidence to suggest any of the techniques evaluated are unsafe constitutes evidence that such techniques are safe; and if so, what is the purpose of the recommended experiments that should be completed before the techniques could be used in clinical practice.

All three reviews have found no evidence to suggest any of the techniques evaluated are unsafe.

The experiments recommended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority convened Expert Panel’s June 2014 report are designed to contribute towards the decision as to when mitochondrial donation should be offered in treatment.