Anger Over U-Turn On The Use Of Hybrid Embryos

A U-turn has cleared the way for scientists to create hybrid animal-human embryos for stem cell research. The government move followed a White Paper proposal banning the hybrids that attracted criticism from scientists, charities, patient groups and MPs.

Yesterday, it published a draft bill that effectively sweeps away the ban. Under the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, scientists will be allowed to produce “cytoplasmic” hybrid embryos (cybrids) that are 99.9% human and 0.1% animal.

The bill also goes further and permits human embryos to be altered by the introduction of animal DNA. The new stance was warmly welcomed by patient welfare groups and many of the UK’s leading scientists. But it was greeted with anger by ethicists and pro-life campaigners, who claimed the government has “caved in to pressure” from the scientific community.

Last month MPs on the Science and Technology Select Committee published a highly-critical report on the White Paper proposals, saying they were “unacceptable and potentially harmful to science”.

Caroline Flint, the Health Minister and the bill’s chief architect, denied the government had staged a climbdown. She said that while recommending a “general prohibition”, the White Paper had always left the door open for specific research to be allowed on a case-by-case basis.

But the immediate ban called for by the White Paper has now been removed. She said: “I honestly don’t see this as a back flip…it was an evaluation of a number of different viewpoints. “Our position was not to stop this research but to be clear that it’s sensitive research, and we have to be sure about what we’re going to permit to happen in the future.”

Three teams of British scientists have expressed a desire to create animal-human hybrids for research into diseases and new treatments. They include a group led by Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University, one of the creators of Dolly the sheep, who hopes to identify the cause of motor neurone disease. Allowing scientists to use eggs from rabbits or cows instead of humans would provide them with a plentiful supply of stem cells.

The new bill would permit this, but true animal-animal hybrids, creatures “bred” by the fusion of sperm and eggs, would remain outlawed. In all cases it would be illegal to allow embryos to grow for more than 14 days or be implanted into a womb.

Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of the division of developmental genetics at the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research, said: “I am very pleased that the draft bill proposes that research involving mixtures of animal and human material…ought not to be subject to a ban. This research has many potential benefits for the understanding of disease and for treatments and should not be feared.”

Alastair Kent, director of the Genetic Interest Group, an alliance of patient organisations, said: “This is a humane and sensible response to the views of patients, scientists and doctors on the importance of this research, which brings hope to those affected by severe, life-limiting diseases.”

However, Dr Calum MacKellar, director of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, said: “We are extremely concerned that the government has caved in to pressure. Since when did the scientific perspective trump all other views in a democratic society?

“Millions of people in the UK believe that human embryos cannot be considered as piles of cells’. Instead, they believe that they are invested with either full human dignity or a special moral status.”