Hybrid embryo researc fails to attract funding

Briefing: the fact that ethical alternatives to this appalling approach have proved far more promising is an important factor here.

From the BBC, in part: But since the bid to outlaw the research was defeated in May last year, two of the three groups which hold a license to create hybrid embryos have been unable to find funding, while the third has yet to try.

Human animal hybrid embryos - in which the nuclei of human cells are inserted into animal eggs - have been seen as one of the most promising ways of overcoming the dramatic shortage of good quality human eggs.

The stem cells then extracted from the embryos - which are some 99% human and 0.1% animal - have the potential to become any kind of tissue and as such could be used to develop treatments for cancer and conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

"We can't do anything at the moment, we just don't have the money" says Dr Stephen Minger, of King's College London, who received his license over a year ago.

"What we have to work out now is whether it's a good use of our scant resources to put our efforts into resubmitting a proposal - which is incredibly time-consuming."

Dr Lyle Armstrong, of Newcastle University, who has failed to find money to take his hybrid research to a next stage added that "legislation does not guarantee that funding will follow".

See the full BBC story.