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Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland have criticized the decision by British authorities to allow mixed human-animal embryos for stem cell research, and on Thursday made an urgent call for members of parliament to reject the proposals.
Last week, the U.K. Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) decided to allow scientists to create hybrid embryos – a move described by Scotland’s Catholic bishops as a “horrific prospect.”
Despite ethical concerns, the fertility clinic regulator agreed that the decision could lead to developments in therapy for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The Catholic Church in Scotland, however, said that a “moral boundary is being crossed” by the proposals, which involve removing nuclei from animal eggs and replacing them with DNA from human cells.
The Catholic bishops have called on MPs to reject “such controversial and morally questionable techniques,” adding that research with “non-controversial adult stem cell therapies have produced many successes.”
“Human beings are unique and distinct from all other creatures,” the church body argued in a statement.
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“Our natural distaste at the prospect of mixing species reflects a natural intuition that a moral boundary is being crossed. We are appalled and shocked by this horrific prospect.”
In concluding, the bishops stated: “It is alarming to imagine a new category of embryo being fashioned by scientists in order that they might have a further supply of raw genetic material on which to experiment and discard. Creating hybrids between animals and humans would be a step too far.”
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