The First Creation of Human-Animal Hybrid Embryo

First British human-animal hybrid embryos have been created by the researchers of University of Newcastle in Britain.

According to the foreign media reports, Newcastle University researchers have successfully created the first human mixed-breed animal embryo or known as cytoplasmic hybrids or cybrids.

These are procedures on how human DNA is inserting into the cow egg cell from which its nucleus has been removed.

In this research, the researchers extracted DNA from the human skin cell before inserting into a hollowed-out cow egg derived from a cow ovary. All the genetic and species properties of this egg have been eliminated, meaning that the cow's nucleus DNA was being removed so that it has no longer a cow as explained by Dr. Minger. After 4 days of its growth in the laboratory, researchers eventually obtained the so-called human-animal hybrid embryo. An electric shock then induced this hybrid embryo to grow.

It is said that this embryo has a characterization of 99.9% human and 0.1% other animal after being grown for 3 days until it had 32 cells. The embryos were continue to grow for another 6 days before extracting stem cells out from them which could be used to investigate debilitating and untreated diseases such as Alzheimer's, cystic fibrosis, Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's, Huntington's and motor neuron diseases. The researchers claimed that the research is due to the scarcity of human eggs and they further insisted that the embryos would not be planted into the woman.

In accordance to the current regulation in Britain, the hybrid embryos have to be destroyed after 14 days.

These embryos have a characteristic of 99.9% human and 0.1% animal.

The half-human-animal hybrid embryo viewed under the microscope.

These are embryos first cloned by the Newcastle University team. These are also the early embryos that will then use to yield stem cells

The diagram shows how the human cybrid is created.

On March 25, the public came to realize the issue of human-animal hybrid embryo in a lecture first presented in Tel Aviv. According to the Newcastle University which is situated in the northern part of the United Kingdom, this study has neither released extensively to the public nor being held for an external examination or peer review. A former head of the Medical Research Council, Colin Blakemore said, "The creation of hybrid embryos is not illegal and researchers in Newcastle and London were granted provisional license for such research in January, after extensive consultation by the HFEA...This research is at a very early stage and no results have been peer-reviewed or published." While being interviewed by the French media, a spokesman from the University of Newcastle said, "The University hasn't reached the final confirmation". The study result is said to be released within a few months later.

A paper on human-hybrid embryo was first presented in Tel Aviv on March 25.

This research has gained the permission from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in January in order to create the embryos used for untreatable conditions. The British government also approved this research from a scientific point of view. The Liberal Democrat MP, Evan Harris, who led a campaign to ensure that research on human-animal hybrids was not banned by the parliament said, "Creating these sort of cytoplasmic hybrid embryos was deemed legal and legitimate under the 1990 HFEA Act and the 2001 Therapeutic Cloning Regulations by both the HFEA and by the science select committee, and was approved on that basis by the HFEA after a public consultation and after approval by a further unanimous select committee report. Therefore it is wrong to say that this is pre-empting parliamentary debate or a vote on the new legislation in this area-the statutory framework is being updated."

Nevertheless, this research has received condemnation from Catholic bishops as they said that this research has against the human rights, human dignity and human life. The leader of Catholics in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien used his Easter Sunday sermon to denounce this research as "Frankenstein proportion." The idea of the Catholic objection towards this research is that the notion of inserting human and animal DNA in the similar entity and also to the idea of creating what the researchers regard as a life for the purposes of research to which a life that will then be destroyed. Simultaneously, this research has received opposition from some ethnic groups and churches. The objection also came from the campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, Josephine Quintavalle who said, "It is appalling that the government has bowed to pressure from the random collection of self-interested scientists and change its prohibitive stance."

It is sadly to learn that most British have agreed on this project of "true hybrids" created by the so-called "human chimeras", where human cells are injected into animal embryos. Shall we allow this to happen? Shall we receive something like a part of human and a part of animal? It seems like an odd and disgusting feeling to receive this type of embryos, isn't it?
This human-animal chimera which was named after a monster in Greek mythology that had a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail has undoubtedly risen up people fear and concern. I keep on asking, "Would this creation still qualify as a HUMAN?" Can you accept this half-human and half-animal creation? It is inhuman to take out human DNA and then put into a host animal egg.