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| Ethics Concerns over Human-Animal Hybrids as US Govt Agency Seeks to Lift Funding Ban
The US National Institutes of Health wants government money to fund research that would mix human cells into animal embryos. It is hoped it could lead to major breakthroughs to tackle diseases. Critics worry that it will raise serious ethical issues. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) had issued a moratorium on researching whether human cells could be used to modify animal brains a year ago. The 2009 NIH Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research does not allow human cells to be injected into animals, nor for the breeding of animals using human eggs or sperm cells. However, the organization has changed its mind and wants to investigate this field further. Some of the researchers believe that the techniques could lead to breakthroughs in trying to tackle diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, while it could also be used to grow organs needed for human transplants. "I am confident that these proposed changes will enable the NIH research community to move this promising area of