Brits Approve Experiments on Human-Animal Embryos

Controversial experiments with embryos that are part human, part animal will be approved by a British commission tomorrow, the Guardian reports. Researchers hope to create the hybrid embryos to extract stem cells for use in potential treatments of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and possibly motor neuron problems and spinal cord injuries.

There is a shortage of human ova available for such research, which is why animal eggs will be used and injected with human cells. A series of polls and public meetings showed most Britons are "at ease" with the research. (More embryo stories.)