8 August 2006
MIXING animal and human material to create hybrid "chimeras" for scientific research should be banned, the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics said yesterday.
In a report on the ethics of the science, the council said the creation of embryos containing cells made of human and animal chromosomes should be outlawed.
Dr Calum MacKellar, the director of research at the council, said: "The fertilisation of animal eggs with human sperm should not continue to be legal in the UK for research purposes.
"Most people are not aware that these kinds of experiments have been taking place in the UK and find it deeply offensive.
"Parliament should follow France and Germany and prohibit the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos."
There is currently a shortage of human eggs for research, but scientists believe that animal eggs can be used as an effective substitute for work on stem cells, which could lead to new treatments for motor neurone and other diseases.
Link to original article: http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1147322006