-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: September 6, 2007 12:00:54 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Here Come the Monsters
Britain to Allow
Creation of Hybrid Embryos
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post, September 6, 2007; Page A11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/
AR2007090502117.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Capping a months-long scientific and ethics review, British
regulators said yesterday that they are prepared to allow the
creation of embryos that are part human and part animal for use in
medical experiments.
The ruling by the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority, which
oversees human embryo research in Britain, means that two
previously submitted proposals to create hybrid embryos -- on hold
while the agency considered whether it would even look at them --
will be evaluated in detail. Decisions on those proposals, widely
anticipated to be positive, are expected in November.
The prime goal of the research is to create embryos from which
embryonic stem cells that may be medically useful can be extracted.
The embryos would be made by injecting human DNA into cow or rabbit
eggs whose own DNA has been largely, but not fully, removed.
Until now, scientists making human embryos for research have
generally used human eggs from women treated with hormones, a
procedure that poses medical risks and so raises ethical concerns.
But opponents have argued that it is no less unethical to create
partly human embryos solely to harvest their stem cells, and some
opponents have raised the specter of rogue scientists growing the
embryos into weird human-animal creatures.
The embryo authority acknowledged those concerns and promised to
watch the field closely.
"This is not a total green light for . . . hybrid research, but
recognition that this area of research can, with caution and
careful scrutiny, be permitted," the agency said in a statement.
Some organizations vocally opposed such experiments, as did the
nation's chief medical officer, citing a lack of public support.
But the British Medical Association and Britain's major science
funders, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust,
lobbied hard for a positive ruling, along with several Nobel
laureates and others.
Although more than half of British adults recently surveyed said
they support research using human embryos, 35 percent support the
creation of embryos that are "mostly human and a small amount of
animal genetic materials" -- the kind of research being proposed
for now -- and nearly half said they are opposed.
Many expressed concern that the work constitutes meddling with
nature and might lead to more troubling experiments. Others said
they fear that some hybrid embryos -- which scientists call
chimeras, after the mythical Greek creature with a lion's head, a
goat's body and a serpent's tail -- might be transferred to women's
wombs, where they might develop.
British regulations demand that all human embryos used in research
be destroyed within 14 days after their creation. Supporters also
point to research suggesting that chimeric embryos have little
potential to survive beyond the earliest stages of development
because of incompatibilities between their human and animal strands
of DNA.
Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substanceânot soap-boxingâplease! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'âwith its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright fraudsâis used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
