The Times reported today that Newcastle University were applying for a License to implant a human skin cell into a bovine ovum. Newcastle United fans were left wondering whether, with their team languishing equal bottom of the Premiership, that their chairman was behind the whole scheme. The suspicion remains that Eleven Human-Cow hybrids have been turning out for Newcastle United recently, judging by their speed and mobility on the pitch dressed in black and white.
However it is in fact a serious attempt to clone an embryo that would not legally be judged as human under current law, would be harvested at 6 days and "killed" at 14 days with a view to seeing whether stem cells could be used from the results.
We had a debate at the Bell Dinner table as to whether this was a very clever attempt to get round embryo research laws or indeed a valid way to harvest stem cells for future research targetting numerous serious diseases. Ethically this is a mine field (with a herd of Friesians grazing all over it) that needs some thought. Is an embryo grown from a human skin cell in a bovine egg human? Is it wrong to use stem cells from this source to alleviate suffering?
It is an issue which requires prayerful consideration.
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