While there must be a feeling of relief in the government benches after a controversial bill authorising the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos sailed through the British Parliament, reaction in other countries has been mixed. Interestingly, although the British media supported the legislation, several leading German newspapers were horrified. Here are extracts from some editorials:

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung was dismayed: “One can see a society's moral standards in the way it treats its weakest members. This British regulation will carelessly compromise this ethical understanding.”

The conservative Die Welt, on the other hand, called it responsible politics: “One sign for the high level of the debate was the fact that the MPs did not allow themselves to be influenced or misled by catch phrases, such as 'Frankenstein science.' Nothing can be had in life without responsible risk.”

The centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung criticised Parliament’s naïve faith in science: “Even if it might sound a bit excessive to label Britain henceforth as a land of rogue scientists, they may only be disappointed in their often desperate hope for medical marvels.”

The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung was enthusiastic: "All technical revolutions have shifted our standards. In the early stages, even the steam engine, immunization, in vitro fertilization and the computer faced strong opposition. But traditional standards aren't always enough. Welcome to the century of the life sciences."

And Frank Ulrich Montgomery, the vice-president of the German Medical Association, which sharply criticised the move, was scathing: “We consider this decision to be a serious mistake. Just the fact that viable embryos are to be destroyed shows that they are developing a completely different relationship to growing life.” ~ Deutsche Welle, May 21; Der Spiegel, May 21