April 1, 2008

leading scientists react to the news that the first human-animal hybrid embryos may have been created

Researchers at Newcastle University have become the first in the UK to create human-animal hybrid embryos by inserting human DNA from banked embryonic stem cells into cow eggs which had had their own nuclei removed. The resulting embryos survived for three days. The work has yet to be verified, and is subject to peer review.

Read the statement from Newcastle University here.

Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:

“It is too early to assess the significance of these results but this is an important area of science that has been scrutinised by the HFEA. The aim of the research is to advance human health. This work emphasises the importance of the parliamentary scrutiny of this area of research over the coming weeks.”

Prof Colin Blakemore, former Head of the Medical Research Council, said:

“The creation of hybrid embryos is not illegal and researchers in Newcastle and London were granted provisional licences for such research in January, after an extensive consultation by the HFEA. This research is at a very early stage and no results have been peer-reviewed or published. However, these preliminary reports give hope that this approach is likely to provide stem cells for research without the use of human eggs or normal human embryos. The new Bill is intended to confirm the arrangements for regulation of this important area of research.”

Peter W. Andrews, Professor of Biomedical Science, Centre for Stem Cell Biology, University of Sheffield, said:

“The production of embryos by transferring the nucleus of an adult human cell to a human egg from which its own nucleus has already proved very difficult, let alone by combining a human nucleus with an animal egg. Apparently these researchers have achieved some success, but by using the nucleus from a very early embryonic cell, which might be easier to reprogram than an adult cell.

“However, at the moment it is impossible to assess the significance of this report until we know more details of what has been achieved, the results have been repeated and, importantly, they have been reviewed by independent researchers in the usual way.”

Martin Bobrow, Emeritus Professor of Medical Genetics, University of Cambridge, said:

“I have no idea whether this is true or not but Dr Armstrong has been working towards this for a long time and has recently been given a license to pursue this research. It would be unsurprising if he did not have early data but it is very unhelpful to speculate about how significant they are until we have more facts.

“If it turns out to be true that he has so rapidly been able to create an embryo that could produce a medically useful stem cell line, then that would be a very strong argument for pursuing that particular technique.”