Would u favor a hybrid ( genetically altered) embryo for medical research or has science gone too far?

Question

On Tuesday, MPs have a further free vote on the emotive issue of cutting the abortion time limit.

Mr Cameron, along with Mr Brown, has backed the use of hybrid embryos as a means to develop treatments for cancer and conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. They also both support the creation of "saviour siblings".

However, the majority of the Tory shadow cabinet, including shadow foreign secretary William Hague and shadow home secretary David Davis, backed the unsuccessful attempt to ban hybrids.

Ex-minister Edward Leigh, who led the fight against the creation of hybrid "admixed" embryos, said they were "ethically wrong and almost certainly medically useless".

He said there was "no evidence yet to substantiate" claims the work could lead to treatment for degenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The bill would allow regulated research using hybrid or "admix" embryos, where the nuclei of human cells are inserted into animal eggs. The resulting embryos would be kept for up to 14 days to harvest stem cells.

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo says any research done using human embryos "must satisfy the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority that it was necessary or desirable".

No human "admix" embryo would be implanted into a woman or animal, she says.

'Too human'?

But Mr Leigh said: "We do not believe that regulation is enough. We believe this is a step too far and therefore should be banned.

"In embryos, we do have the genetic make up of a complete human being and we could not and should not be spliced together with the animal kingdom."

Answer 1

I believe stem cell research is the way forward so perhaps the question should be about how they gain them.

What the uk government is proposing is to use animal eggs and then any human cells can be used to make the stem cells. Other ways would be to use human eggs (very small supply unless they use the eggs from aborted fetus), embryotic fluid, or umbilical cord fluid. Probably a few other ways too but I am just a lay person and not a scientist.

The question then becomes what is the lesser evil of all the means and suddenly using animal eggs doesn't seem so bad.

Course if you are really against it then why not sign up to donate your own body parts (cord blood, amniotic fluid, or eggs) and then we could get on a lot quicker with the research.

Answer 2

Science is the final frontier of the decaying world, and embryo's and this research already have proof it can work and I think it will one day.

Answer 3

Science never goes too far. Its science that will save us all in the future. Some day you or your loved ones may need those stem cells.