Press Release

MND research to benefit from donated eggs

22 February 2007

The Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association welcomed news that women are to be allowed to donate their eggs, as an altruistic donor, to research.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) agreed that women can donate their eggs to help forward research using stem cells to tackle serious diseases such as MND.

At present, there is no viable way of studying living human motor neurones in the laboratory, which is greatly inhibiting understanding of MND and the search for effective treatments. Stem cells offer a potential source of motor neurones for research, but progress in this area is hampered by a lack of human eggs.

The decision means that researchers into MND and other conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, may in future be able to obtain a more regular supply of eggs for stem cell research.

Dr Belinda Cupid, Research Manager at the MND Association, said: “MND kills three people in the UK every day, and by providing more eggs for research, this scheme may offer a real opportunity in the future to speed up the search for a cure.

“We appreciate that the issue of egg donation raises ethical and practical concerns. But as long as the process is legal, involves informed consent, and the research itself has a sound scientific rationale, we support any such advances that bring us closer to a world free of MND.”