Animal-human embryos need human rights, bishops say
LONDON (Reuters) - Hybrid animal-human embryos created for medical research should be viewed as human and permitted to develop into children, Roman Catholic bishops have urged the British parliament.We have enough two-legged animals already roaming the planet.
Scientists want to use the hybrid embryos -- known as "chimeras" after the mythical half-man, half-animal creatures -- to understand better and find cures for illnesses such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and cystic fibrosis.
Under draft legislation to be debated in the British parliament this year, the chimeras would have to be destroyed within 14 days and it would be against the law to implant them in a woman's womb.
