Climbdown by ministers as hybrid embryo ban is lifted

A government ban on experiments with hybridised animal-human embryos was partly lifted yesterday in a climbdown by ministers. Scientists will be able to apply for permission to create the "chimera" embryos, which they say are essential for further research into diseases such as Parkinson's and motor neurone disease.

The concession, announced by Caroline Flint, the Public Health minister, follows a White Paper proposal to ban the hybrids, a move that triggered an avalanche of criticism from scientists, charities, patient groups and MPs.

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But a further legislative hurdle must be crossed before any research application can be made as the Bill requires the introduction of new regulations. This would keep scientists waiting a minimum of 40 days before any research licence could be granted and means control of the licences is retained by the Government.

The move was revealed as the Government published the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, which seeks to bring the law into line with the rapidly advancing field of embryo treatment and research.

The Bill also contains measures to ban sex-selection of embryos for non-medical reasons and to remove reference to "the need for a father" from guidelines for taking account of a child's welfare when providing fertility treatment. This will make it easier for lesbian couples to have IVF children using donated sperm.

Scientists have argued for the right to create hybridised animal-human embryos because of the acute shortage of human eggs for research.

As a substitute, they can create a cloned embryo by removing the cell nucleus from a cow or rabbit egg and replacing it with the nucleus of a human skin cell - from a patient suffering form Parkinson's or another disease - which is inserted into the empty "shell".

The hybrid is 99.5 per cent human and 0.5 per cent animal and can be used to produce embryonic stem cells which can be grown in the laboratory and studied to throw light on the mechanisms of the disease. The embryos will not be grown beyond 14 days, the legal limit for research, and would afterwards be discarded.

Ms Flint denied there had been a climbdown. She said while recommending a "general prohibition", the White Paper had left the door open for specific research to be allowed.

Two teams of British scientists from London and Newcastle have already sought permission to create animal-human hybrids for research but the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority put their applications on hold, pending a government decision and the outcome of its own public consultation launched in January.

Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP who led the campaign against the ban, said the health department's announcement was astonishing. "They've deliberately spun it to give the appearance that they've made this concession without making this concession," he said.