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Green light for hybrid research

Regulators have given scientists in Newcastle the green light to create human-animal embryos for research. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority granted permission after a consultation showed the public were “at ease” with the idea.

Newcastle University, along with another centre at King’s College London, will now be able to begin their work under one-year research licences. Scientists want to create hybrid embryos by merging human cells with animal eggs in a bid to extract stem cells. The embryos would then be destroyed within 14 days.

The cells form the basic building blocks of the body and have the potential to become any tissue, making them essential for research. At the moment, scientists have to rely on human eggs left over from fertility treatment, but they are in short supply and are not always good quality.

The team at Newcastle University are hoping to use the technique to help understand how stem cells develop into different tissues in the body. In the distant future this information may lead to scientists to be able to grow new tissues in the laboratory.

Dr Lyle Armstrong of Newcastle University said: “Now that we have the licence we can start work as soon as possible. We have already done a lot of the work by transferring animal cells into cow eggs so we hope to make rapid progress.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .