Hybrid embryos: it's already happening in the UK

Briefing.
From SPUC: Scientists in England have reportedly created embryos by putting human DNA
into egg cells of a cow. The embryos survived for three days. Newcastle University researchers put human skin-cells in bovine eggs. They say spare human eggs are scarce and that the work has been licensed by the government's regulator. Hybrids will be debated by UK MPs, possibly next month, when they consider the government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill. [BBC, 1 April, and Financial Times, 2 April] Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, said: "The creation of human-animal hybrid embryos represents a disastrous setback for human dignity in Britain. It creates a category of beings regarded as sub-human who can be
used as raw material to benefit other members of the human family, effectively creating a new class of slaves. Although we cannot be certain of the nature of such embryos, those produced with a preponderance of human DNA would in all probability, according to experts, be human beings with human characteristics and capacities. By using animal eggs, such embryos could be generated in much greater numbers than if human eggs were used, leading to much greater loss of life." [SPUC, 1 April]