A person – or just a collection of cells?

DR DEIRDRE Madden's view (Irish Examiner, Feb 3) echoes that of Baroness Warnock in Britain – that at the beginning of pregnancy one is dealing with a collection of cells. This is scientifically unsound.

Both the organisational unity of the embryo and the goal-directed character of its activities indicate the presence of a new, distinct individual life.

This is why embryologists regard the embryo as being a single, multicellular organism as opposed to just a random assortment of cells, or a colony of unicellular organisms.