Plans to ban the creation of 'human-animal' embryos by mixing sperm and eggs from different species have been dropped by ministers in a rethink of fertility laws. Under new proposals, scientists will be able to create any type of hybrid embryo for research, provided it is approved by the fertility regulator, the government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
The move represents a final climbdown by the government, which has steadily pulled back from its position in a white paper in December that sought an all-out ban on the creation of embryos made by fusing human and animal cells.
In a draft fertility bill published in May, the government said it would permit research on some interspecies embryos, but said it was still opposed to the creation of "true hybrid" embryos - those made by fertilising a human egg with animal sperm or vice versa. Yesterday the government removed this final objection.
Scientists want to use human-animal embryos to make stem cells, but the scarcity of human eggs has held up research. Two teams of scientists are now awaiting licences to create embryos using more plentiful eggs from cows or rabbits. Under existing laws any embryo created for research must be destroyed no later than 14 days old and cannot be implanted.
The new measures are contained in a revised version of the human tissue and embryology bill which will be included in the Queen's Speech next month. They were set out as part of the government's response to a parliamentary committee's verdict on the bill.
The government refused to back suggestions that children born from donor eggs or sperm should have the information listed on their birth certificates, and instead will decide on the issue following parliamentary discussion.