Plan to create human-cow embryos

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Perilous Times and The New Frankensteins

Plan to create human-cow embryos*

By Fergus Walsh
BBC News, Medical correspondent

UK scientists have applied for permission to create embryos by fusing
human DNA with cow eggs.

Researchers from Newcastle University and Kings College, London, have
asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for a three-year
licence.

The hybrid human-bovine embryos would be used for stem cell research and
would not be allowed to develop for more than a few days.

But critics say it is unethical and potentially dangerous.

Stem cell research is one of the most promising areas of medical science.

You may begin to undermine the whole distinction between humans animals
and humans-Calum MacKellar

Stem cells are the body's master cells and five-day-old embryos are
packed with them - each with the potential to turn into any tissue in
the body.

It is this ability which scientists want to harness to treat diseases
such as Parkinson's Disease, strokes and Alzheimer's Disease.

To do that, they need to have access to thousands of embryos for research.

Short supply

The problem is that human eggs for research are in short supply and to
obtain them women have to undergo surgery.

That is why scientists want to use cows' eggs as a substitute.

They would insert human DNA into a cow's egg which has had its genetic
material removed, and then create an embryo by the same technique that
produced Dolly the Sheep.

The resulting embryo would be 99.9% human; the only bovine element would
be DNA outside the nucleus of the cell.

It would, though, technically be a chimera - part-human, part-animal.

The aim would be to extract stem cells from the embryo when it is six
days old, before destroying it.

The quality and the viability of stem cells would then be checked to see
if the technique had worked.

The scientists also plan to examine the way the cells are reprogrammed
after fusion to see if there are useful processes they could replicate
in the laboratory.

Lead researcher Dr Lyle Armstrong said: "If we can learn from the egg
cell how to make embryonic stem cells without having to use an animal
egg at all then some day we may be able to cure diseases such as
Parkinson's disease, or better still some of the age-related diseases
which are creating such a burden on society."

Dr Stephen Minger, from King's College London, said: "The current state
of the technology is such that literally hundreds of human ooctyes
(eggs) from young women will be required to generate a single human
embryonic stem cell line.

"Therefore we consider it more appropriate to use non-human oocytes from
livestock as a surrogate.

"We feel that the development of disease-specific human embryonic stem
cell lines from individuals suffering from genetic forms of
neurodegenerative disorders will stimulate both basic research and the
development of new medicines to treat these horrific brain diseases."

'Undermining humanity'

Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of developmental genetics, National
Institute for Medical Research, said: "This is a very rational step: to
learn what you can using animal eggs, which are readily obtainable,
before moving on to valuable human eggs when or if this becomes necessary."

But some will argue the end does not justify the means.

Calum MacKellar, from the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, said the
research undermined the distinction between animals and humans.

He said: "In the history of humankind, animals and human species have
been separated.

"In this kind of procedure, you are mixing at a very intimate level
animal eggs and human chromosomes, and you may begin to undermine the
whole distinction between humans and animals.

"If that happens, it might also undermine human dignity and human rights."