The researchers say the work is needed to advance the understanding of complex diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Motor Neurone Disease, but critics say it involves the needless destruction of human life, and is fraught with moral difficulties.

What is a hybrid?

The experiments involves transferring nuclei containing DNA from human cells, such as skin cells, into animal eggs that have had almost all of their genetic information removed.

The resulting cytoplasmic embryos are more than 99% human, with a small animal component, making up around 0.1%.

The embryo would be grown in the lab for a few days, then harvested for stem cells - immature cells that can become many types of tissue.

Why use animal eggs?

The creation of hybrid human-animal embryos was first suggested as a way of addressing the shortage of human eggs available for research...
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source  BBC NEWS

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