(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-06 10:31

LONDON -- British regulators decided on Wednesday 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.

Undated file photo of cloned embryo cells. [Reuters]

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said it had agreed to allow a specific kind of inter-species hybrid, created by injecting human DNA into a hollowed-out animal egg cell.

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

The HFEA is believed to be the first regulator in the world to explicitly approve such human-animal embryos, a spokeswoman for the authority said.

Some countries, such as Australia, have banned them.

Two teams of British scientists have applied to the HFEA for permission to create cytoplasmic hybrid embryos using empty cow eggs 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 that might provide new medical treatments for degenerative diseases.

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

TABOO

"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 Wednesday's decision.

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

Scientists and medical charities welcomed the decision, but opponents said mixing even a tiny amount of human genetic material with an animal's was unnatural and wrong.

Josephine Quintavalle, of pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, told BBC radio that reproduction between human and animal broke an "absolute taboo."

"The public has been sold a lot of hype about the marvelous cures that are going to come from this research," she said.

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 percent -- said they gave their backing if the hybrids helped understand some diseases.

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