Prime Minister backs human-animal embryo research
May 21, 2008
Gordon Brown today gave his unequivocal backing to the creation of human-animal embryos, insisting the controversial research could save millions of lives.
Just a day before MPs vote on the Human Fertility and Embryology Bill, the Prime Minister gave his most vociferous support yet and said developing “hybrid” techniques was an “inherently moral endeavour”.
He said MPs had a duty to themselves and “future generations” to permit the use of human-animal hybrids, which could be used to tackle diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Mr Brown said: “The scientists I speak to are committed to what they see as an inherently moral endeavour, that can save and improve the lives of thousands and over time, millions.”
Britain OK’s animal-human embryos for research
May 21, 2008
British lawmakers voted yesterday to approve controversial plans to allow the use of animal-human embryos for research.
The proposed laws, the first major review of embryo science in Britain for almost 20 years, have provoked stormy debate - pitting Prime Minister Gordon Brown and scientists against religious leaders, anti-abortion campaigners, and a large number of lawmakers.
Brown has said he believes scientists seeking to use mixed animal-human embryos for stem cell research into diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are on a moral mission to improve, and save, millions of lives.
The process involves injecting an empty cow or rabbit egg with human DNA. A burst of electricity is then used to trick the egg into dividing regularly, so that it becomes a very early embryo, from which stem cells can be extracted.
Scientists say the embryos would not be allowed to develop for more than 14 days, and are intended to address the shortage of human embryos available for stem cell research.
By allowing such mixed embryo experiments, Britain is expected to maintain its reputation as a leading center for stem cell research.
Unlike the United States, where such research is tightly controlled, British scientists say the progressive environment in the United Kingdom has led to many firsts, including the world’s first test tube baby and cloned animal.
Legislation in Britain might also influence other European countries where such research is pursued. Chinese laws on stem cell and embryology research also closely mirror those in Britain.
“I believe that we owe it to ourselves and future generations to introduce these measures, and in particular, to give our unequivocal backing within the right framework of rules and standards, to stem cell research,” Brown wrote Sunday in an op-ed piece for The Observer newspaper.
But opponents warn that an easing of laws on creating the embryos could lead to the genetic engineering of human beings.
Legislators voted 336 to 176 against a proposed ban on research using animal-human embryos and by 286 to 223 against a separate proposal covering a specific type of animal-human embryos.
Human Genetics Alert, a science watchdog in favor of the ban, says the laws could lead to the creation of genetically modified “designer babies.”
“Once we start down the road to human genetic modification, it will be very difficult to turn back,” the group warned in a briefing paper for lawmakers.
Bird flu hits one more Vietnamese province
May 20, 2008
Bird flu has stricken southern Hau Giang province, raising the total number of localities in Vietnam to three, Central Vietnam Television reported Thursday evening.
The disease either killed or sickened over 1,100 ducks in two flocks in the province’s Long My district on Dec. 26. Specimens from the dead waterfowls that had not been vaccinated against bird flu viruses have been tested positive to virus strain H5N1.
Early this month, bird flu hit the two southern provinces of Ca Mau and Bac Lieu, resulting in the forced culling of more than 11,000 chickens and ducks so far.
On Dec. 28, Cao Duc Phat, Vietnamese minister of agriculture and rural development and chairman of the Central Steering Committee on Bird Flu Prevention, asked local steering committees and localities nationwide to focus their anti-disease activities on surveillance, detoxification, vaccination, quarantine, and control over transport and trade of poultry and related products, the TV report said.
They have been tasked to conduct bird flu surveillance at household level to early spot outbreaks, detoxification at high-risk areas, farms, slaughterhouses and markets, and vaccination among unvaccinated fowls, including those unlawfully hatched and raised by residents; resume operation of domestic animal quarantine; establish mobile quarantine checkpoints at main roads and waterways; tighten management over the transport and trade of fowls and related products; and intensify cross-border poultry smuggling.
Bird flu outbreaks starting in Vietnam in December 2003 have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls. The last outbreak of bird flu among poultry in the country was in December 2005.
Vietnam has detected 93 bird flu patients, including 42 fatalities, in 32 localities, the country’s Health Ministry said on Dec. 27, noting that it has seen no new human cases of infections since mid-November 2005.