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Scientists
have
created
more
than 150
human-animal
hybrid
embryos
in
British
laboratories.
The
hybrids
have
been
produced
secretively
over the
past
three
years
by
researchers
looking
into
possible
cures
for a
wide
range of
diseases.
The
revelation
comes
just a
day
after a
committee
of
scientists
warned
of a
nightmare
‘Planet
of the
Apes’
scenario
in which
work on
human-animal
creations
goes too
far.
Last
night a
campaigner
against
the
excesses
of
medical
research
said
he was
disgusted
that
scientists
were
‘dabbling
in the
grotesque’.
Figures
seen by
the
Daily
Mail
show
that
155
‘admixed’
embryos,
containing
both
human
and
animal
genetic
material,
have
been
created
since
the
introduction
of the
2008
Human
Fertilization
Embryology
Act.
This
legalised
the
creation
of a
variety
of
hybrids,
including
an
animal
egg
fertilised
by a
human
sperm; ‘cybrids’,
in which
a human
nucleus
is
implanted
into an
animal
cell;
and
‘chimeras’,
in which
human
cells
are
mixed
with
animal
embryos.
All
have now
stopped
creating
hybrid
embryos
due to a
lack of
funding,
but
scientists
believe
that
there
will be
more
such
work in
the
future.
The
figure
was
revealed
to
crossbench
peer
Lord
Alton
following
a
Parliamentary
question.
Last
night he
said: ‘I
argued
in
Parliament
against
the
creation
of
human-
animal
hybrids
as a
matter
of
principle.
None of
the
scientists
who
appeared
before
us could
give us
any
justification
in terms
of
treatment.
‘Ethically
it can
never be
justifiable
– it
discredits
us as a
country.
It is
dabbling
in the
grotesque.
‘At
every
stage
the
justification
from
scientists
has
been: if
only you
allow us
to do
this, we
will
find
cures
for
every
illness
known to
mankind.
This is
emotional
blackmail.
‘Of the
80
treatments
and
cures
which
have
come
about
from
stem
cells,
all have
come
from
adult
stem
cells –
not
embryonic
ones.
Earlier
this
week, a
group of
leading
scientists
warned
about
‘Planet
of the
Apes’
experiments.
They
called
for new
rules to
prevent
lab
animals
being
given
human
attributes,
for
example
by
injecting
human
stem
cells
into the
brains
of
primates.
Human-animal
hybrids
are also
created
in other
countries,
many of
which
have
little
or no
regulation.
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