Why create human-animal embryos?
Scientists developing these embryos say they will provide a plentiful source of stem cells – immature cells that can develop into many different types of tissue – for use in medical research. Researchers believe that by producing stem cells carrying the genetic defects of diseases they will be able to work out how a cell’s molecular machinery goes awry, and perhaps find new cures for diseases. The research has been hampered by the severe shortage of “spare” human eggs donated by couples undergoing fertility treatment. By using animal eggs, which are far more readily available, British research teams hope to make more rapid progress. Their experiments have shown that the stem cells harvested from hybrid and chimeric embryos behave identically to human ones. Who is trying to create them? A team led by Professor Stephen Minger, director of the stem cell biology laboratory at King’s College London, has been offered a licence by the HFEA to use human-bovine embryos to study degenerative neu
