Sir: The embryos that are the subject of much dogmatic and emotive comment from Catholic bishops are not human beings (letters, 24 March). They are collections of cells, with few, if any, human attributes: they have no brain or body, no feelings or memories or hopes, no capacity for pain or pleasure, no ability to form relationships.
In the News
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March 25th, 2008
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March 24th, 2008
Fertility expert and television scientist Lord Robert Winston has accused senior members of the Catholic church of lying over the controversial embryo research bill after an Easter weekend which has seen it condemned from pulpits up and down Britain.
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March 24th, 2008
Like any mother, Linda Ball would do anything if it meant a few more years with her dying seven-year-old son, Daniel.
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March 24th, 2008
The Church of England last night demanded Gordon Brown give MPs a free vote on controversial plans for embryo research.
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March 24th, 2008
A potential cure for Parkinson's disease has come a significant step closer today with a study showing that it is possible to treat the degenerative brain disorder with cells derived from cloned embryos.
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March 24th, 2008
As many as one in 23 teenage girls in parts of Britain has had an abortion, according to figures released yesterday.
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March 24th, 2008
Something that you've probably known intuitively for years is finally official: mothers of daughters are different to mothers of sons, and we produce the sex of children we're most suited to bring up.
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March 24th, 2008
Gordon Brown should allow a free vote
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March 24th, 2008
Cloned embryonic stem cells have been used to treat animals with Parkinson?s disease for the first time, in an important step towards developing the therapy for human patients.
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March 24th, 2008
It is difficult to track the changes in the political culture of Britain, perhaps particularly difficult from an observation post in the House of Lords.