U-turn may block ban on human-animal embryos

Tony Blair has indicated that the Government may back down over plans to outlaw “human-animal” cloned embryos in research that could improve the lives of those with motor neurone disease and Alzheimer’s.

The Times revealed yesterday that leading scientists were opposing attempts by ministers to prohibit experiments that involved fusing human DNA with animal eggs. A White Paper, published last month, proposed outlawing the creation of such embryos, at least initially, which the scientists said would deny society one of the most powerful tools available for medical research.

However, the Prime Minister said that the Government was “not dead set against” creating embryos that were part animal and part human. Mr Blair said that there were difficult issues surrounding the embryos, which would be more than 99 per cent human but have a small animal component. Read more