Report Backs Interspecies Lines

Abstract

A report by Britain's Academy of Medical Sciences has bolstered the political case for allowing the creation of so-called cybrids, in which human DNA is inserted into animal eggs to generate human embryonic stem cells. The U.K. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is currently conducting a public consultation on the practice, with a fall decision expected. The report asserts that research involving interspecies embryos raises “no substantive ethical or moral reasons not to proceed” provided that the usual regulations are followed, panel chair Martin Bobrow of the University of Cambridge said in a statement. Most nations, including the United Kingdom, require that no human research embryos be allowed to survive beyond 14 days. Cybrids could allow nuclear transfer without tapping the limited supply of human eggs. The issue came to a head last year when two groups applied to HFEA for permission to work with cow eggs instead. Critics find distasteful the idea of mixing animal and human material, and the practice has been banned in Australia and several other nations. The British government has proposed legislation that would ban the practice but allow exceptions.