Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committees
The National Academies called for the establishment of Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committees in its 2005 "Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research" to manage the ethical and legal concerns in human embryonic stem cell research. Because of the complexity and novelty of many of the issues involved in that research, the Guidelines committee believes that all research institutions engaged in human embryonic stem cell research should create and maintain these committees at the local level.
Mitochondrial replacement therapy
In the United Kingdom, following animal experiments and the recommendations of a government commissioned expert committee, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations were passed in 2001 regulating and allowing research into human embryos. In 2004, the Newcastle University applied for a licence to develop pronuclear transfer to avoid the transmission of mitochondrial diseases, and was granted the license in 2005. Following further research by Newcastle and the Wellcome Trust, scientific review, public consultations, and debate, the UK government recommended that mitochondrial donation be legalized in 2013. In 2015 parliament passed the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations, which came into force on 29 October 2015, making human mitochondrial donation legal in the UK. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) was authorized to licence and regulate medical centers which wanted to use human mitochondrial donation. In February 2016, the US National Academy of Sciences issued a report describing technologies then current and the surrounding ethical issues.