Unpacking a 27-year-old Panel Report on Human Embryo Research

We’ve all heard about the ethics around embryo research. You may have even thought to yourself: how much of the embryo research going on do I find ethical and acceptable?

Well, to help you make up your mind, we’ll be going back to 1994 when the National Institutes of Health Human Embryo Research Panel came out with the Report of the Human Embryo Research Panel, September 1994.

It’s crucial to understand what the ethical considerations were at the time as well as how the considerations and policies have evolved over time. So let’s construct a puzzle of the past three decades around this type of research and the ethics surrounding it.