Question
asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answers by Lord Darzi of Denham on 9 June (WA 80), which serious diseases might be better understood and treated by injection of human sperm into an animal egg (or vice versa) followed by development of an embryo beyond the two-cell stage; whether any evidence supporting the use of true hybrids submitted to the relevant select committees has been or is expected to be published in research literature; and which species might be sufficiently closely related to humans so that chromosomal differences would not necessarily prevent successful hybridisation; and
Answer
Under the provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, the mixing of human deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) with animal gametes will not fall to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to be regulated unless the human DNA is in the form of a human gamete or the process of mixing the DNA results in an embryo where the animal DNA does not predominate. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill does not change the name of the HFEA. The use of intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection to generate true hybrids to be grown beyond the two-cell stage could be of use in the understanding of serious mitochondrial diseases. No project of research may be licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority unless it is satisfied that research is necessary or desirable for one of the statutory purposes set out in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill and the use of an embryo is necessary. It is unknown whether any species of animal’s gametes could successfully undergo ““hybridisation”” with a human gamete. The closer an animal is to humans in evolutionary terms, the more likely there would be success, but humans are significantly more advanced than any other species of animal, making the chances of successful ““hybridisation”” with any species low, no matter how closely related they are to humans.