| The hybrid embryos can have only 0.1 per cent of animal genetic material |
The hybrid embryos should be used only for research
The U.S. President will again veto the bill passed by the House
Nucleus replaced: The nucleus of the egg is removed and is replaced with human genetic material.
JUST ABOUT a month after the U.K Government issued a draft bill approving human-animal hybrid embryos to be developed, the Academy of Medical Sciences has supported the move.
The draft bill allows scientists to produce hybrid embryos that contain 99.9 per cent of human genetic material and just 0.1 per cent of animal genetic matter.
The approval comes after previous proposals were rejected and creating hybrid embryos was banned.
No human eggs
Hybrid embryos are formed by combining human genetic material with eggs got from animals. And, in a way, this is different from the conventional human embryonic cloning procedure as it does not use human eggs.
Much like in the case where human eggs are used for embryonic stem cell research, the nucleus of the animal egg is removed and the human genetic material is introduced. The resulting embryos contain no genetic trace of animals except the mitochondria of the animal. Mitochondria contain less than 1 per cent of animal DNA.
Obtaining human eggs in large numbers to create human embryos from which stem cells can be harvested has been a serious hurdle. And most of the donated eggs that are currently used come from people who have undergone infertility treatment. And the success rate of developing embryos using human eggs is low.
The use of animal eggs will help in understanding why and how this can be corrected.
The permission has been given to develop embryos and use them solely for research and not for creating human clones.
And even in research, they should be used for creating disease-specific embryos. This will allow scientists to study the way a particular disease progresses or the disease triggering mechanism.
Fusing animal and human cells is nothing new. Animals, especially mice, have been extensively used to study human genetic diseases. Down’s syndrome, Huntington’s disease, to name a few, have been extensively studied. In these cases, the hybrids have been created by inserting human genetic material into a mouse genome.
No federal funding
Creation and research of hybrid embryos is not banned in the U.S. It is just that there is no federal funding for such research. And this is where other countries are moving ahead of the U.S.
While creating hybrid embryos was banned till recently, the U.K Government was open to having a debate and getting a public opinion on the issue.
Tony Blair, unlike George Bush, has been seen as not having dogmatic views on matters concerning science.
Scientific temper
“Any new law would have the flexibility to support scientific research that helped people,” Blair was quoted as saying in BBC News. “I am sure that research that’s really going to save lives and improve the quality of life will be able to go forward.”
Contrast this with what the U.S. President had said when the House passed a bill to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research early this month.
“American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support deliberate destruction of human embryos. Crossing that line would be grave mistake. For that reason, I will veto the bill,’ he said.
A similar bill seeking to expand federal funding was vetoed by him last year. And it is certain to face the same fate this year as well as the House that voted for passing the bill 247-176 cannot override a presidential veto as it falls short by 35 votes.
Then again, in the U.K., the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) takes an independent decision and is not influenced by the government’s views. How greatly science would have benefited if the U.S. had such a really independent body!
A Republican who noted, “The Senate gets it. The public gets it. The House gets it. Why doesn’t the president of the United States get it?” says it all.
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