Higher RMPS Summer Holiday Homework Task
Below you will find a set of web links and accompanying questions. Please read the information found in the links thoroughly, and provide detailed answers to each question.
Your completed homework must be emailed through the RMPS website ( by Friday 12th August at 1pm at the latest.
A. The Moral Status of Embryos
Read “The Christian Medical Fellowship” – The Moral Status of an Embryo
Answer the following questions:
1. Why does it make more sense to describe an embryo as ‘a human being with potential’, rather than ‘a potential human being’?
2. How can the UN Declaration of Human Rights be used to defend the rights of embryos?
3. Explain three biblical arguments used to defend the rights of embryos.
4. How would philosophers put forward the argument that embryos are not fully human?
Read Euro Stem Cell Ethical Dilemma Factsheet
5. Create a table showing the arguments for and against the three main viewpoints about the moral status of embryos.
B. The Legal Status of Embryos
Read ‘Regulation of Stem Cell Research in the UK’
Answer the following questions:
1. Write a summary of the regulations set out in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001.
Read ‘Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990’, section 3.
2. Write a summary of the prohibitions in connection with embryos.
C. Uses of Human Embryos
Read HFEA’s ‘How we regulate’
1. Under which conditions can research projects be carried out under?
2. For which purposes can research be carried out?
3. Where do embryos in research come from?
4. How does HFEA decide which research can go ahead?
Read HFEA’s ‘Currently Licensed Research Projects’
5. Explain the purpose and benefits of project 0075.
6. Explain the purpose and benefits of project 0174.
7. Explain the purpose and benefits of project 0193
Read HFEA’s ‘Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis
8. Explain what is meant by PGD and how it works.
9. Select three PGD conditions – look these up and write a brief summary of how the condition affects the carrier.
D. A Humanist Perspective
Read ‘A Humanist Discussion on Embryo Research’
1. Explain what is meant by a humanist.
2. Do humanists consider embryos to be ‘a human being with potential’ or ‘a potential human being’?
3. Provide a detailed summary of the humanist stance on therapeutic cloning.
E. A Utilitarian Perspective
Read Peter Singer’s ‘The Revolutionary Ethics of Embryo research’
1. Provide a detailed summary of a utilitarian perspective on using human embryos for research purposes.
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