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| UK first country to allow human-animal embryos |
| 09.06.07 (11:54 pm) [edit] |
| United Kingdom is the first country to allow -animal embroys. According to Hindu mythology had its Garuda — a winged, bird-like creature with the body of a man. The Greeks had their mythical race of Centaurs — part-human, part-horse. Britain has potentially brought the stuff of myth and legend into the 21st century by becoming the first country to allow human-animal embryos to be created and used for research. The embryos, or 'cybrids' as they are known, are banned elsewhere, including the US, Australia and Canada. But the British authorities have bowed to scientists' arguments that they would be invaluable to extract stem cells and find a cure for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other serious diseases. The cybrids will be more than 90% human and less than 1% animal. British scientists want to create the cybrids by using an 'empty' or de-nucleated cow or rabbit cell to fill with an adult human cell. The reconstituted one-cell embryo would be allowed to develop for a few days in the lab. Once it becomes a ball of a hundred or so cells, embryonic stem cells will be derived from it to study genetic diseases and the effects of drugs. Contrary to the horrified imaginings of many, the cybrid embryos would be destroyed within 14 days, forestalling the possibility of scientists creating a Frankenstein's monster or minotaur from the inter-species hybrids. Till now, stem cells have been derived only from embryos left over after IVF, but these are in short supply and often of poor quality. An unending supply of cybrids will put an end to that, scientists say. Thursday's final go-ahead came after Britain's regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) said its lengthy consultation showed the public was overwhelmingly 'at ease' with the idea when told it could pave the way for therapies for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. |
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