For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at

http://cellnews-blog.blogspot.com/ and

http://www.geocities.com/giantfideli/index.html

ZenMaster

For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at

http://www.geocities.com/giantfideli/index.html

UK Government Approves Hybrid Embryo Creation

Thursday, 06 September 2007

The UK government's fertility regulator HFEA yesterday agreed to allow scientists to create human-animal hybrid embryos for stem cell isolation and medical research into debilitating diseases.

Dr Lyle Armstrong of Newcastle University's Institute for Human Genetics, who is one of the applicants for this new research, called the decision “excellent news”.

”It is a positive outcome, not just for our work but for the progress of British science in general, and we hope that this will lead to new technologies to benefit everyone,” he said.

“It does seem a little abhorrent at first analysis, but you have to understand we are using very, very little information from the cow in order to do this reprogramming idea.”

“It's not our intention to create any bizarre cow-human hybrid; we want to use those cells to understand how to make human stem cells better.”

Another team from King’s College in London has also applied to the HFEA to use hybrid embryos. Dr Stephen Minger, of King's College, said he “applauded” the HFEA for its decision as it was the only ethically justifiable option if scientists were to push forward with their research. It is now expected individual hearings for these two applications will be held in November with other scientists expected to follow suit.