The British Government has allowed scientists to create part-animal and part-human only for research on treatment for life threatening diseases. This was announced by the health minister Caroline Flint who would be working on a draft bill on fertility treatment and embryo research.
Permission has been applied by two groups of scientists who are desirous of creating cybrid embryos made up of 99.9% human and the remaining 0.1% could be anything from rabbit to cow to pig to sheep. This cybrid will be used to produce stem cells which will eventually grow into different types of cells. This can be further used in the study of understanding and treatment for diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cystic fibrosis, motor neurone disease and Huntington's.The Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 1990 is being worked upon and a draft bill replacing this act will be ready by May and the same will be included in the Queen’s speech in November. This act will clearly indicate that the creation of cybrid will be allowed only for research purposes and will be monitored strictly.
Source-Medindia
JYT
