A report in the UK's Times newspaper this week suggests that scientists working in the UK can create human-animal hybrid embryos by exploiting a loophole in the law.
According to the article, the wording of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's (HFEA) legal mandate means that the embryo research watchdog has no power to regulate experiments in which human and animal material are fused to create new cells. The paper says that this 'loophole' means that 'ethically contentious studies similar to some conducted abroad by Panayiotis Zavos', could be attempted in the UK without a licence from the HFEA. In 2003, Zavos carried out experiments in which he added human DNA to cow eggs, in order to test his human cloning techniques.
The Times article says that Suzi Leather, chair of the HFEA, confirmed that an experiment that took place last year at Cambridge University, in which DNA from adult human cells was fused with frogs' eggs, needed no research licence. A licence, according to the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act, is only required if human and animal gametes are fused, or if the resulting embryo has the potential to develop into a human being.
The situation has prompted further calls for the HFE Act to be reviewed. Ian Gibson, chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, said that 'things like this illustrate that things move on much faster than the regulatory system can often accommodate'. 'The techniques and possibilities are moving faster than can be interpreted from the original act, which was developed specifically for IVF technology', he added. A spokeswoman for the HFEA said that the watchdog would also support a review of the relevant legislation. 'We've asked the government to consider this part of the legislation again', she said, adding: 'What we need is clarification of where everybody stands and what the HFEA should and shouldn't be licensing'.
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