Relevance in updating the Warnock report banner. A review of Franklin & Jackson (2024). The 14 day rule and human embryo research.

Abstract

In The 14-Day Rule and Human Embryo Research, the reader will find a journey through the 1980s and 1990s, on the governance of human embryo research. At this time, what would be the most important international standard in this field was promulgated, limiting human embryonic development in vitro for research to 14 days. However, it should not be forgotten that this limit of development prevented any research in post-implantation stages, for example, in gastrulation and early organogenesis. This has led to a great lack of knowledge about the mechanisms that regulate cell differentiation and morphogenesis during the post-implantation stages. This rule has recently been challenged by scientific advances in the need to decipher the mechanisms of cell differentiation, with a matter of great interest to the field of regenerative medicine. This has led to the creation of human embryos derived from stem cells, which serve as models for the study of these unknown stages. Some authors and scientific societies propose increasing this limit to 28 days and leave open the possibility of new interdisciplinary debates on the legislative improvements that may be necessary at the present time.