Britain approves human-animal embryo research

LONDON, Sep 6 (Reuters) British regulators decided to permit in principle the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos for research into illnesses such as Parkinson's, Motor Neurone Disease and Alzheimer's.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) agreed to allow a specific kind of inter-species hybrid, where human DNA is injected into a hollowed out animal egg cell, a spokeswoman for the regulator said yesterday.

The resulting ''cytoplastic hybrid'' embryo, or ''cybrid'' would be 99.9 percent human and 0.1 percent animal.

Two teams of British scientists have applied to the HFEA for permission to create such hybrids to overcome a shortage of donated human eggs.

Their applications have been on hold for nearly a year, awaiting the outcome of a public consultation by the HFEA.

The researchers hope to use the hybrid embryos, which must be destroyed after 14 days, to create stem cells to help find new medical treatments for degenerative diseases.

''This is not a total green light for cytoplasmic hybrid research, but recognition that this area of research can, with caution and careful scrutiny, be permitted,'' the HFEA said of yesterday's decision.

The HFEA will now consider the two research applications in the coming months.

Opponents say mixing even a tiny amount of human genetic material with that of an animal is unnatural and wrong.

Scientists in China, the United States and Canada have already carried out similar work.

The HFEA regulators deferred a decision on other types of human-animal embryos, such as ''true hybrids'', created by the fusion of a human sperm and an animal egg, and ''human chimeras'', where human cells are injected into animal embryos.

This was because there was no evidence that scientists are at present considering using such hybrids in research.

The regulators considered findings from their consultation which included an opinion poll of more than 2,000 people.

The survey found people supported the creation of the kind of hybrid embryos proposed by the two research teams, but only when they were given a reason for the experiments.

A majority of those asked -- 61 per cent -- gave their backing if the hybrids would help understand some diseases.

That support fell to 35 per cent if the hybrids were being created purely for non-specific research.

REUTERS RJ HS1018