Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum to the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006, and I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I would like to especially thank Senator Kay Patterson for this great effort and the excellent work she did. Kay, you were a sensation; you did a great job. I would also like to thank Natasha Stott Despoja and Ruth Webber, two senators who were very cooperative in the formation of this bill, and the many senators who supported the bill on both sides of the house. My thanks must also go to the scientific community and the excellent work done by the Lockhart committee.

The Senate amendments are scientifically acceptable and basically increase penalties for prohibited practices, prevent the use of animal ova in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and propose a review to consider a national legislative or regulatory approach to non-blood human tissue based therapies. Any attempt to have further amendments in this House will be totally unacceptable as we all know the bill would not survive a review by the Senate.

The main issue of contention in the Lockhart review is SCNT. SCNT is where the nucleus of a patient’s cell—for example, a skin cell—is removed and put into an unfertilised ovum that has had its nucleus removed. This egg now containing the patient’s DNA, the blueprint for life, is chemically and electrically stimulated causing it to divide and form a blastocyst or a ball of cells. Within this ball of cells there are a number of unique embryonic stem cells that are capable of forming all the tissues of the human body. These cells are harvested and then put into a culture medium and molecularly stimulated into a lineage to create patient specific tissue. This tissue is then used for the purpose of research for the development of novel drugs to be used in therapy against the patient’s disease, or the tissue can be used for implantation, for example pancreatic insulin secreting tissue in people who are insulin dependent diabetics. This tissue, being patient specific, does not require immunosuppressive drugs that may cause a much higher risk of cancer and infection. It is interesting to note that tissue derived from embryonic stem cells (ESC) has better transplant tolerance than adult stem cells (ASC). Australia’s most eminent scientists believe that this will be the next great step towards achieving treatment for the chronic and disabling diseases that are so prevalent amongst our population. Adult stem cells are rare and extremely difficult to grow in culture and after 30 years have only achieved nine US FDA real treatments, all related to bone marrow generated diseases.

One of the scientific problems that has been raised with ES cells is the development of teratomas. This problem has largely been overcome by research using CD30 markers, alginate covering of the cells and molecular triggers—for example noggin, which directs the formation of neuroectodermal tissue, and now the ability to separate any ES cells from the formed tissue. In other words, if there are no residual ES cells there are no teratomas. The latest cancer research shows the source of many common cancers is in fact due to adult stem cells.

Cited chromosomal breakdown has not been demonstrated in cell lines in culture since 1998 unless the cultures were subjected to mutagenic trauma.

Egg donation will be voluntary. These eggs are not fertilised by sperm. The eggs could be sourced by donation from IVF unfertilised eggs or derived from ovaries removed for medical reasons and probably eventually from ovarian tissue formed by ES cells themselves. Cardinal George Pell’s assertion that these ova could be harvested from human foetal tissue is covered under state legislation and underpinned by guidelines issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Human foetal tissue is already accessible to Australian researchers and has been available since 1980 under carefully regulated conditions and has been used for many important studies. This is simply an extension of existing legal access to foetal tissue already occurring in Australia and in other countries in the world. The bill ensures the current principles of informed consent for participation in medical research and maintaining the prohibition of the sale of eggs and embryos. The NHMRC has the appropriate expertise and experience to develop guidelines for egg donation, and is already responsible for guidelines on consent for assisted reproductive technology and human tissue.

The legislation for approval of SCNT exists in many countries throughout the world including the USA, the UK, Sweden, Singapore, China et cetera. If this parliament does not approve of this technology it would appear that at least three Australian states will legislate to have it legalised.

Opponents of this legislation seem to base their opposition on the destruction of SCNT embryos which is necessary to harvest the patient specific ES cells even though there has been no sperm involvement. There is no possibility of forming life without intra uterine implantation, which is totally illegal with severe jail penalties. The hollow ball of insensate cells the size of a grain of sand, containing the DNA of a patient with an intractable disease is designed only for the purpose of cellular culture therapy. For more than 20 years sperm/egg embryos have been destroyed in the treatment of infertility by IVF. More than 30 per cent of women of reproductive age take the oral contraceptive pill which prevents implantation of sperm/egg embryos.

So let us support the majority of Australians who welcome this research which in animal models has already proven successful in macular degeneration, creation of oligodendrocytes necessary for spinal cord injury recovery, dopamine producing cells necessary for treating Parkinson’s disease, heart cells necessary to treat many forms of heart disease and insulin producing cells needed to treat insulin dependent diabetes melitis already proven with human ES cells.

I commend this bill to the House.

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