Scientists at Newcastle University have created the first cloned human-animal hybrids in the UK. The news is bound to create an uproar in Britain, which is the middle of a passionate debate over updating fertility legislation. Legalising hybrid embryos is the proposal that has generated the most debate. Researchers stress that their work is breaking no laws and that the UK’s fertility watchdog had authorised their work. The eggs for this project came from slaughtered cows and the human genetic material from a stem cell line at the University.

Although the news only reached the media yesterday, the leading scientist in the hybrid project, Lyle Armstrong, had presented findings at a conference in Israel last week. He said that the hybrid embryo was 99.9% human and 0.1% cow. It grew for three days until it had 32 cells. Eventually he hopes to grow similar embryos for 6 days before extracting their stem cells. In any case, the University insisted, there was no chance of these hybrid cells developing into humans, as UK law stipulates that research embryos must be destroyed within 14 days.

John Burn, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, told the BBC's Six O'Clock News: "If you look down the microscope it looks like semolina and it stays like that. It's never going to be anything other than a pile of cells. What it does is give us the tools to find out the simple questions: how can we better understand the disease processes by working with those cells in the body?" ~ Guardian, Apr 2