ABSTRACT
The first matter which must precede the design of a possible ethical – and legal – status of the human embryo is whether this embodies any value that is worthy of recognition, and therefore of protection. Some states have authorized research with supernumerary embryos and therefore have allowed the obtaining of their Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC), although establishing a time limit in relation to the moment of the creation of such embryos. The first paragraph of article 18 establishes that the member states to this Convention may authorize by law the research on human embryos. However, the exclusion of the lawfulness of the act of creating embryos for industrial or commercial purposes within the Convention could only be done through a systematic approach that dealt with the Convention as a whole. The considerations that may fall on the biological being created through cloning techniques (basically, through nuclear transfer) would come from what is established in the Protocol on Cloning.
