The British government has published its first guidelines for research that involves growing human organs in farm animals, marking a step forward for those hoping to conduct this kind of research, according to the Daily Mail. The news comes just a month after rumors began to circulate that the green light would be given to this kind of research due to the British government believing that the benefits outweigh the costs, The Telegraph reported.
The guidelines were created with the intent of providing a means of regulating the emerging technology that combines human genetic information or tissue with animals, which could lead to a new way of supplying organs for transplantation and open up new avenues for examining human diseases.
Many animal rights groups have responded to the new guidelines in a negative manner, claiming that they are enabling scientists to conduct "cruel" and "dangerous" experiments. Others, such as Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, believe that research on human-animal hybrids can lead to the advancement of our understanding of human diseases.
"Research involving introducing human tissues or genetic information into animals has the potential to yield great advances in biomedical science, especially in the understanding and treatment of disease," he said, adding that the new guidelines will help solidify a consistent approach to the potentially dangerous technology.
Ultimately, the government made the new guidelines with the hopes that Britain will become a hub for human-animal research and lead to major scientific advancements, according to The Times.
While Britain has just now addressed this kind of research, human-animal research has already begun in other areas of the world, as scientists in the U.S. created hybrid embryos last month that they hope will allow the growth of human organs inside farm animals like sheep and pigs.
