This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7337910.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Legal challenge to hybrid embryos | Legal challenge to hybrid embryos |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A Christian organisation will launch legal action in an attempt to overturn a decision to licence scientists to create human-animal hybrid embryos. | A Christian organisation will launch legal action in an attempt to overturn a decision to licence scientists to create human-animal hybrid embryos. |
| Newcastle University and King's College London have had permission to create the embryos for medical research. | Newcastle University and King's College London have had permission to create the embryos for medical research. |
| The Christian Legal Centre claims the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority acted beyond its powers. | The Christian Legal Centre claims the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority acted beyond its powers. |
| The centre insists that existing legislation dating from 1990 does not permit the process. | The centre insists that existing legislation dating from 1990 does not permit the process. |
| The group, which includes Christian lawyers and doctors, claims that the HFEA granting the licences was therefore illegal. | The group, which includes Christian lawyers and doctors, claims that the HFEA granting the licences was therefore illegal. |
| It also says that scientific advances have made hybrid embryo use unnecessary. | It also says that scientific advances have made hybrid embryo use unnecessary. |
| The centre will ask the High Court to overturn the licences, with which researchers at Newcastle have already produced a human-animal embryo. | The centre will ask the High Court to overturn the licences, with which researchers at Newcastle have already produced a human-animal embryo. |
| Free vote | Free vote |
| Controversial proposals to allow scientists to grow human stem cells inside animal eggs are contained in legislation currently going through Parliament. | Controversial proposals to allow scientists to grow human stem cells inside animal eggs are contained in legislation currently going through Parliament. |
| The government faced calls from Catholic Church leaders and Catholic Labour MPs for a free vote on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. | The government faced calls from Catholic Church leaders and Catholic Labour MPs for a free vote on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. |
| In a compromise, Gordon Brown has said Labour MPs will get a free vote on the most controversial parts of the bill. | In a compromise, Gordon Brown has said Labour MPs will get a free vote on the most controversial parts of the bill. |
| However, the prime minister expects all Labour MPs to back the whole bill when it comes to the final Commons vote. | However, the prime minister expects all Labour MPs to back the whole bill when it comes to the final Commons vote. |
| Both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders plan to allow their MPs to have a free vote. | Both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat leaders plan to allow their MPs to have a free vote. |
| The bill is designed to bring the 1990 regulatory framework for fertility treatment and embryo research in line with scientific advances. | The bill is designed to bring the 1990 regulatory framework for fertility treatment and embryo research in line with scientific advances. |
| The legal challenge is backed by the campaigning group Comment on Reproductive Ethics (Core). | |
| In a statement, Core said animal-human cloned embryos were neither necessary or desirable, and that the science underpinning them was unlikely to produce useful information or new therapies. |