This undated image made available, Wednesday, March 26, 2008, by Stephen Minger, director of the stem cell biology laboratory at King's College University in London, shows neural stem cells derived foetal brain.
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Hybrid-embryo breakthrough intensifies British debate
Posted on Wed Apr 02 2008
London, Apr. 2, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Researchers at
Newcastle University have successfully produced
"hybrid" embryos, combining human and animal tissues, in experiments that have imparted new urgency to a political debate on legislation expanding the scope of embryo research in Great Britain.
The Newcastle University team inserted the genetic material from a human into the egg of a cow, producing an embryo that they characterized as 99% human. They were able to grow the embryo for three days.
The purpose of the research is to produce embryos that could be harvested for their stem cells, which might be used in medical research. The researchers involved in the work have repeatedly promised that they will not allow the embryos to grow until birth.
The breakthrough in Newcastle comes as Parliament is preparing for an important debate on new legislation that would significantly expand the breadth of embryo research allowed under British law. The proposed law would also allow more opportunities for assisted human reproduction. Catholic leaders have energetically opposed the legislation. With Edinburgh's Cardinal Keith O'Brien saying in an Easter Sunday sermon that the bill was a "monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity, and human life."
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