UK Embryology Bill

The new Bill provides revised and updated legislation for assisted reproduction and changes to the regulation and licensing of the use of embryos in research and therapy. Click on link below to access the bill:

Human Fertilisation & Embryology Bill 2007-08

A hybrid embryo is a mixture of animal and human tissue.
Scientists in the UK are already working on one specific type of hybrid.

These are created by transferring DNA from human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs that have had virtually all their genetic information removed.

The resulting embryos are more than 99% human, with a small animal component of around 0.1%.

They are then grown in the lab for a few days before being harvested for stem cells, immature cells that can become many types of tissue. Two licences to create this type of hybrid embryo have already been granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and a team in Newcastle has successfully produced them.

The Bill would also allow for the creation of other types of hybrid embryos:

True chimeras: The addition of one cell from an animal embryo to a human embryo. The subsequent embryo is made up of cells that are either wholly human or wholly animal.

Transgenic human embryos: A human embryo which has been genetically modified to contain a small amount of animal DNA, for instance one or more animal genes. Each cell would have the usual complement of around 20 000 human genes, and a couple of animal ones.

True hybrid: Fertilisation of a human egg by an animal sperm or vice versa. The resulting embryo would be approx 50% human and 50% animal.

No hybrid embryo would be allowed to develop beyond 14 days. It is already illegal to implant human-animal embryos in the womb or bring them to term.

What are the arguments in favour of this process?
Scientists who advocate the work say the cells would allow them to study how genetic defects, which cause diseases such as Parkinson's, develop.
They also say that stem cells' ability to develop into different tissues mean it could be possible to use cells formed in this process to cure diseases.
Using animal eggs would enable scientists to overcome the problem that human eggs are in short supply.

What are the arguments against?
Opponents say it is tampering with nature, and is unethical.