Appalling
That's one of the few words that comes close to describing this:
Brave New World Watch [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
Plans to allow British scientists to create human-animal embryos are expected to be approved tomorrow by the government's fertility regulator. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority published its long-awaited public consultation on the controversial research yesterday, revealing that a majority of people were "at ease" with scientists creating the hybrid embryos.
Researchers want to create hybrid embryos by merging human cells with animal eggs, in the hope they will be able to extract valuable embryonic stem cells from them. The cells form the basic building blocks of the body and are expected to pave the way for revolutionary therapies for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and even spinal cord injuries.
The consultation papers were released ahead of the authority's final decision on the matter, which will mark the end of almost a year of intense lobbying by scientists and a fervent campaign by organisations opposed to research involving embryonic stem cells.
Using animal eggs will allow researchers to push ahead unhindered by the shortage of human eggs. Under existing laws, the embryos must be destroyed after 14 days when they are no bigger than a pinhead, and cannot be implanted into the womb.
Opponents of the research and some religious groups say the work blurs the distinction between humans and animals, and creates embryos that are destined to be destroyed when stem cells are extracted from them.
How anyone can not grasp that creating hybrid human/animal embryos is stepping over a very clear ethical and moral line is beyond me. That they report that a majority are at ease with such research suggests to me that the folks who were surveyed were not told clearly what's being done.
And the reporting that the embryos must be destroyed and cannot be implanted completely misses the point, which is that experimenting with the essence of human life, for no better purpose than extracting stem cells, particularly when there has been more demonstrated progress and promise from adult stem cells, is nothing less than a horror.