Thursday, 17 January 2008, 12:09 GMT

Green light for hybrid research

Hybrids are made using an animal egg mixed with human genes
Regulators in the UK have given scientists the green light to create
human-animal embryos for research.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority granted permission
after a consultation showed the public were "at ease" with the idea.

Experts said it was vital for research into life-threatening diseases.

Two centres, King's College London and Newcastle University, will now
be able to begin their work under one-year research licences.

Any other centres wishing to do similar work will have to apply to
the HFEA for permission, which will make a decision on a case-b-case
basis.

Hybrids

Scientists want to create hybrid embryos by merging human cells with
animal eggs in a bid to extract stem cells. The embryos would then be
destroyed within 14 days.

The cells form the basic building blocks of the body and have the
potential to become any tissue, making them essential for research.

At the moment, scientists have to rely on human eggs left over from
fertility treatment, but they are in short supply and are not always
good quality.

Critics say they are repulsed by the idea and there must be no
creation of an animal-human hybrid.

They say it is tampering with nature and is unethical.

It is already illegal to implant human-animal embryos in the womb or
bring them to term.

Go-ahead

Dr Stephen Minger and colleagues at King's College London want to
create hybrids to study diseases known to have genetic causes - such
as Alzheimer's disease, spinal muscular atrophy and Parkinson's disease.

And Lyle Armstrong's team at Newcastle University are hoping to use
the technique to help understand how stem cells develop into
different tissues in the body.

In the distant future this information may enable scientists to grow
new tissues in the laboratory.

Dr Armstrong said: "Now that we have the licence we can start work as
soon as possible.

"We have already done a lot of the work by transferring animal cells
into cow eggs so we hope to make rapid progress."

John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of
Unborn Children (SPUC), said: "The HFEA decision represents a
disastrous setback for human dignity in Britain.

"The deliberate blurring of the boundaries between humans and other
species is wrong and strikes at the heart of what makes us human."