Question & Answer:
The human tissue and embryo bill (UK)
(wz) David Batty explains the developments in embryo research proposed by the new bill
What is the bill about?
The draft bill will overhaul the law on fertility treatment, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), and embryo research, including human-animal embryos. It follows a government white paper, published last December, which proposed banning the creation of chimeras - an organism consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue - and other kinds of interspecies embryos.
Will it allow the creation of human-animal embryos?
Yes. The draft bill reverses the position of the white paper and will allow scientists to create three different types of human-animal embryos. The first, known as a chimeric embryo, is made by injecting cells from an animal into a human embryo. The second, known as a human transgenic embryo, involves injecting animal DNA into a human embryo. The third, known as a cytoplasmic hybrid, is created by transferring the nuclei of human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs from which almost all the genetic material has been removed. more…
From: »The Guardian Unlimited (society.guardian)«