Moral objections to hybrid embryo research claims rejected
Posted on the Great Beyond for Natasha Gilbert
Reports in the British media that grant applications to create hybrid human – animal embryos for research were turned down on moral grounds, have been rejected by the funding bodies and scientists involved.
The story broke in the Independent newspaper on Monday, which claimed Stephen Minger, a leading stem cell scientist at King’s College London, said that the grant applications may have been blocked by scientists on the funding committees who are morally opposed to the creation of cloned hybrid embryos.
But when Nature spoke to Minger he said the Independent misinterpreted his comments, adding he did not have any evidence that moral objections led to his proposal being rejected.
“I was not saying that religious or moral opposition to the proposal led to its rejection,” he said.
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See a summary of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences Report describing issues around chimera research.
Also, a Lutheran divinity scholar making a theological case for chimeras
