Scientists Can Create Cow-Human Embryos to Treat Alzheimer's ; Q&A

Jan 17, 06:02 PM

LONDON scientists got the go-ahead today to create embryos that are part human, part cow.

King's College will now fuse eggs from the animal with human skin cells.

Researchers hope to make an "unlimited" source of stem cells, which they believe could be used to help find cures for diseases including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and leukaemia.

Ethics watchdog the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority allowed the research despite opposition from "pro-life" groups. It said the benefits outweighed the risks and the public was at ease with the idea.

The embryos will be more than 99 per cent human. They must be destroyed after 14 days to ensure there is no chance that one is implanted in a human womb.

Researchers have been waiting to start work since November 2006 but the decision was delayed amid calls for a public consultation. A parallel project will start at Newcastle University.

Dr Stephen Minger, who will run the King's College project, said: "After a year and a half [the watchdog] has realised the importance of the work." Opponents pledged to go to the courts.

John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: "This represents a disastrous setback for human dignity. The or muscular dystrophy. The list is endless." The HFEA said: "The two applications satisfied all the requirements of the law. We have now offered one-year research licences to the two applicants, subject to a series of detailed conditions in each case." Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology at the National Institute for Medical Research, said: "The HFEA has been delaying this decision for months because they have been nervous of public reaction. It is a great relief that they have finally said yes."

Q&A

What is a hybrid?

Scientists transfer DNA from human cells - such as skin cells into animal eggs that have had almost all genetic information removed. The more than per cent human embryo would be grown in the lab for a few days, then harvested for stem cells that can become many types of tissue.

Why use animal eggs?

There is a shortage of human eggs for research. Experts deliberate blurring of the boundaries between humans and other species is wrong and strikes at the heart of what makes us human.

"It is creating a category of beings regarded as sub-human who can be used as raw material to benefit other members of the human family, effectively creating a new class of slaves." Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics said: "This work is highly unnatural and highly dubious in terms of safety." Scientists will take genetic material from cow eggs and replace it with DNA say using human-animal mixes to get the stem cells makes sense because the process is less complicated and yields better results.

How could this help find disease cures?

Scientists could take genetic material from a person with Parkinson's disease and put it into an empty animal egg to make stem cells that will carry the same defects. Stem cells could also eventually be transplanted to individuals to from human cells to make pinheadsized "cytoplasmic embryos"

These hybrids are packed with stem cells the body's "master cells" which can potentially develop into any type of human tissue making them perfect for research.

In the far future scientists may be able to grow new tissue in the laboratory. Dr Lyle Armstrong of Newcastle University said: "This is a fantastic day for medical research. We want to use the embryonic stem cells.

"We could reprogramme cells to treat diseases such as Parkinson's, leukemia cure diseases, by growing into new tissue to replace diseased tissue.

What are the concerns?

Ethics campaigners say it is interfering with nature and is unethical. It is already illegal to implant human-animal embryos in the womb or bring them to term.

What about the law?

Hybrid embryos are allowed under current law and the licences have been granted on that basis.

A new embryology Bill going through Parliament updates the 1Act and would also allow "true" animal-human embryos: fertilising human eggs with animal sperm, or vice versa. This is not what today's decision allows.

(c) 2008 Evening Standard; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Scientists Can Create Cow-Human Embryos to Treat Alzheimer's ; Q&A
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