Commentary on Sections Part 1: Amendments of Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 Tissue typing
53.Paragraph 1ZA(1)(d) is concerned with “tissue typing” – establishing whether the embryo would result in a child whose tissue was compatible with that of an existing child (the sibling). Embryo testing for this purpose could be licensed where the sibling suffers from a serious medical condition that could be treated with matched tissue from the child to be born including stem cells found in umbilical cord blood and bone marrow or “other tissue”. Paragraph 1ZA(4) provides that the reference to “other tissue” in paragraph 1ZA(1)(d) does not include a whole organ. This provision ensures that tissue typing cannot be licensed if the match was to be carried out because the older sibling required a whole organ.