Good to create chimera

The Great British government has abandoned plans to prohibit scientists with the crossing of human DNA with animal eggs by the ministers of the Tony Blair cabinet of the Cabinet of Cabinet in impersonal and harmful, prohibiting the merger of human DNA with an animal egg, since it can undermine the development of British science. Now the British State Administration for Human Exploitation and Embryology (HFEA) should issue an appropriate license to three scientific groups planning to cross human DNA with rabbit, cow and goat eggs. As a result, scientists will have to create a hybrid embryo, which will live only a few days, after which it is dismantled on stem cells.

Experts argue that the resulting “chimera”, uniting two varieties, will remain a person by 99.9%, and by 0.1% will be animals. Already this week, the British government will announce the exact amount of the money that can be allocated for these research.

The allocated funds will also go to create a new regulatory structure that will monitor the work of scientists and organizes a large -scale program of a public opinion poll on hybrid embryos. Based on its results, the government will formulate new laws on bioethics.

In December last year, the Minister of Health of Great Britain Caroline Flint spoke in support of a temporary ban on creating “hybrid embryos”, which immediately provoked the outrage of the country's scientific community.

Caroline Flint demanded to ban research based on the results of public opinion polls, most participants of which opposed the creation of hybrids, as well as protests by religious groups. Scientists noted that Ms. Flint relied on the opinion of only 535 defendants, and called her proposal “insulting patients”, noting that such a ban would deprive the UK of world leadership in the field of stem cell research.

The "rebellion" of scientists supported the two largest British funds financing the development of medicine in the country - the Medical Research Council and the WellCome Trust, as well as Human Genetics Commission, which advises ministers on genetic research.

The proposed temporary ban on conducting research has revealed a split within the government. The British Minister of Science and Innovation Malcolm Wix announced that the ban would undermine the international reputation of British science, and Tony Blair has repeatedly been supported by research.

Yesterday, Blair admitted that the Ministry of Health could not fully realize the importance of continuing the scientific work on hybrid embryos and the bill requires serious rethinking.

Scientists plan to use animal eggs to create cloned human embryos, which will serve as laboratory models to study various diseases. DNA of patients with diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease will be introduced into the shell of a rabbit or cow egg, from which its own genetic content will be extracted - mitochondric and nuclear DNA. At the same time, the embryo will carry genetic errors that cause this disease. It will be allowed to develop for several days, and then it will be dismantled on stem cells. On “sick” hybrid stem cells, scientists plan to study the development of the disease and test new medicines.

02/28/2007 / Gzt.ru