| Abstract: | Jér?me Lejeune, the French geneticist who discovered the cause of Down's syndrome, is reported to have influenced British Members of Parliament in their vote to ban research on human embryos. Lejeune, brought to Britain to address Parliament by the anti-abortion lobby, said that embryonic research was unnecessary and would not add to knowledge about congenital defects, as argued in the Warnock Committee's report. Lejeune, who is a member of the French pro-life lobby, believes that embryos are persons and should not be subjected to experimentation. His current research concerns the chemical causes of congenital defects, which he predicts may be treatable with drugs in the future. |
