Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 28 January 2013 (WA 269), what conclusions were reached by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's small panel regarding assessment of the effects of pronuclear transfer on tissues with different energetic requirements or numbers of mitochondria; whether it was ultimately evaluated using stem cell lines from the reconstructed embryos or by induced pluripotent stem cells; whether the relevant findings were published in peer-reviewed journals; and, if so, which.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the conclusions reached by the Expert Panel on this issue are outlined in its reports of April 2011, March 2013 and June 2014, which can be found on the HFEA's website at:

www.hfea.gov.uk/6896.html

Section 4.9 of the 2014 report outlines the panel's recommendation for research in this area and Annex B details the evidence reviewed. This can be found on the HFEA's website at:

www.hfea.gov.uk/8807.html