March 29, 2024

British scientists back hybrid embryos

In the wake of uproar over the news that a British parliamentary committee had backed the creation of mixed-species embryos, two leading scientists have lent their support to the idea. Professor Chris Higgins, the director of the Medical Research Council’s clinical science centre, said that using animal eggs instead of human eggs in cloning experiments was “ethically easier”.

And Dr Stephen Minger, a leading stem cell scientist, said that he supported the idea in principle because human eggs would no longer be needed. “In California, people are already up in arms about the issue of paying women for eggs and the potential exploitation of women caused by the egg shortage,” he said.