[asa] Human-animal embryo study wins approval by ....

......the government's fertility regulator .

Awwwwwww ... isn't that special? Now we even
have a government "fertility regulator".

~ Janice

Human-animal embryo study wins approval

Mixing cells and eggs to be allowed in search for new medical treatments

Ian Sample, science correspondent
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/>The Guardian Tuesday September 4 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/04/stem.cell.research

Plans to allow British scientists to create
human-animal embryos are expected to be approved
tomorrow by the government's fertility regulator.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
published its long-awaited public consultation on
the controversial research yesterday, revealing
that a majority of people were "at ease" with
scientists creating the hybrid embryos.

Researchers want to create hybrid embryos by
merging human cells with animal eggs, in the hope
they will be able to extract valuable embryonic
stem cells from them. The cells form the basic
building blocks of the body and are expected to
pave the way for revolutionary therapies for
diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and even spinal cord injuries.

The consultation papers were released ahead of
the authority's final decision on the matter,
which will mark the end of almost a year of
intense lobbying by scientists and a fervent
campaign by organisations opposed to research involving embryonic stem cells.

Using animal eggs will allow researchers to push
ahead unhindered by the shortage of human eggs.
Under existing laws, the embryos must be
destroyed after 14 days when they are no bigger
than a pinhead, and cannot be implanted into the womb.

Opponents of the research and some religious
groups say the work blurs the distinction between
humans and animals, and creates embryos that are
destined to be destroyed when stem cells are extracted from them.

Two research groups based at King's College
London and Newcastle University have already
applied to the HFEA to create animal-human
embryos, but their applications have been on hold
since November last year amid confusion over
whether the authority was legally able to issue licences.

If the authority approves the research, the
applications will go forward to a committee, with
a decision on both due within three months.

Professor Ian Wilmut, whose team cloned Dolly the
sheep, is waiting for the HFEA's decision before
applying to create hybrid embryos to study motor
neurone disease with Professor Chris Shaw at the
Institute of Psychiatry in London.

The consultation, a £150,000, three-month mix of
opinion polls, public meetings and debates, found
participants were initially cautious of merging
animal and human material, but became more
positive. "When further factual information was
provided and further discussion took place, the
majority of participants became more at ease with
the idea," the HFEA's report says.

Most support was expressed for the creation of
so-called cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, in which a
human cell is inserted into an empty animal egg.
Other hybrid embryos, such as those created by
fertilising an animal egg with human sperm, or
vice versa, were less well supported.

In December, the government sparked a revolt by
scientists, patient groups and medical
researchers when it published a white paper
containing proposals to outlaw almost all
research into animal-human embryos. The research
has since been backed by Nobel prizewinners, the
Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the
Commons science and technology committee, and the
government's chief science adviser, Sir David King.

In May, the government withdrew its opposition in
a draft fertility bill and now seeks to outlaw
only embryos created by mixing sperm and eggs
from humans and animals. The bill will be put
before parliament before the end of the year.

Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society,
said: "The HFEA's consultation reveals welcome
recognition of the potential of this research,
[with] 61% of the general public agreeing with
the creation of human-animal embryos, if it may
help understand diseases, with only a quarter opposed to this research."

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Received on Wed Sep 5 09:59:03 2007