Scientists' plea to use new human-animal hybrid embryos
Pastor Dale Morgan
Scientists' plea to use new human-animal hybrid embryos*
· Animal-human link to aid research
· Pro-life groups voice opposition
* Jo Revill, Whitehall editor
* The Observer
* Sunday August 26 2007
Britain's first cloned embryo created by Newcastle Uni team
Britain's leading scientists have made a final plea for the right to
create the first animal-human embryos for medical research using eggs
taken from dead cows.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority will announce its
decision next week on whether to give permission to UK laboratories to
create the hybrid embryos to advance the understanding of genetic diseases.
The issue is controversial because it involves scientists taking an
animal egg, removing its genetic material and putting DNA from a human
cell into it. This can be used to create lines of stem cells which can
then be made part of studies into incurable genetic diseases such as
motor neurone disease.
However, it has caused controversy as some campaigners and religious
groups argue that it is unethical to mix human and animal cells in this way.
Dr Stephen Minger has applied for a licence to do work using hybrids, in
order to understand more about a range of neurological diseases,
including Alzheimer's disease and motor neurone disease.
He said: 'I'm cautiously optimistic that the authority will allow us a
licence. I hope we have made the case that by doing this research, we
can study a number of genetic diseases far more clearly. The cell
discoveries we make could then be used to develop therapies for diseases
such as Alzheimer's which affect so many people, but for which we now
have almost no therapy to offer.'
Minger, senior lecturer in stem cell biology at King's College London,
believes it makes far more sense to use a hybrid than taking a human
embryo, created using a human egg and sperm, because scientists could
use eggs taken from ovaries of thousands of cows that are slaughtered
every day.
To do this work they would need a large number of embryos to make stem
cells, far more than could be achieved by asking women to donate their
eggs for research. Stem cells are immature cells that can be engineered
to develop into many different kinds of tissue, which is important for
medical research.
'When I start talking to people about it, sometime there is a "yuck
factor" and they think it's weird,' said Minger. 'But once you've
explained how it works, and why we are doing it, they do see the point
of it, and actually think it's a good idea.
'To me, it seems just very practical to use the cows' eggs, as a
by-product of a process [the animals' slaughter] that is already
happening.' Another scientist, Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of
genetics at the National Institute of Medical Research in London, said:
'I can see absolutely no reason why these sorts of experiments shouldn't
proceed. I think the scientists wishing to carry them out have made a
very clear case for them.'
The government recently shifted its position on animal-human hybrid
embryos: having been initially against the concept, it is now proposing
to allow partial hybrids, where a complete set of human genes is
inserted into an animal's egg cell, for research purposes only, through
a new Human Tissue and Embryo Bill aimed at overhauling the laws
surrounding fertility treatment.
The move has prompted strong protests from some religious and
anti-abortion groups that oppose any such research. Anti-embryo
campaigners had said earlier this year it was appalling that the
government had, in their view, bowed to pressure from 'a random
collection of self-interested scientists'.
The Catholic Church has made clear its opposition. Bishops told the
parliamentary committee scrutinising a draft bill to allow the research
to go ahead, that they opposed the creation of any embryo solely for
research - they believe that all life begins at conception. They said
they were also anxious to limit the destruction of such life once it had
been brought into existence.
In a submission to the committee, they said: 'At the very least, embryos
with a preponderance of human genes should be assumed to be embryonic
human beings, and be treated accordingly.'