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- Scientists have successfully produced an embryonic pig-human
hybrid. Human DNA was inserted into pig cells which became tiny embryos
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- The researchers have not revealed what happened to them,
but suggest they could have been grown further by being implanted into
a womb - and that either a pig or a human mother would have been suitable.
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- The intentions of the researchers are not made clear
in an application they have submitted to the European Patent Office. However,
such embryos would be ideal for research into therapeutic cloning, when
cells are cloned, grown into tissues such as nerve cells and then used
to treat a patient.
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- The researchers, from Stem Cell Sciences in Australia
and Biotransplant in America, both big players in the biotechnology industry,
took a cell from a human foetus, extracted the nucleus and then inserted
it into a pig's egg cell. Two embryos were grown to the 32-cell stage,
which took a week.
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- Experts in medical ethics are deeply concerned about
the patent application, which has a strong chance of being granted. They
say the research exploits loopholes in European law. It is not illegal
because the embryo is not technically human.
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- Dr Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical
Ethics, said: "This kind of research depends on devaluing human beings."
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- Nobody knows whether the hybrid embryos could have become
living beings. They would be much more human than pig because about 97%
of DNA is in the nucleus, which was human. There would, however, be some
effect from the 3% of DNA from the pig.
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