British scientists make human-cow embryos

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - British researchers say they have created embryos using human cells and the egg cells of cows, but said such experiments would not lead to hybrid human-animal babies, or even to direct medical therapies.

Dr. Lyle Armstrong of Newcastle University presented preliminary data on his work to Israel's parliament last week, Newcastle University said in a statement released on Tuesday.

They said they had hollowed out the egg cells of cattle and inserted human DNA to create a growing embryo. The hope would be to take it apart to get embryonic stem cells.

Details of the work were not available because the researchers have not yet published their study in a scientific journal -- the usual route for reporting such experiments.

Other experts agreed such work would only be an interim step aimed at understanding the biology of embryonic stem cells -- the body's ultimate master cells, which can give rise to all of the other cells and tissues.

"They put human DNA into a cow egg and got the usual early-stage embryos you'd expect," said Dr. Robert Lanza of Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology, whose company tried, but failed, to create stem cells in a similar way in the late 1990s.

"It's too early to say whether this is different or new," agreed Susannah Baruch of the The Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington.

John Burn, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, said the idea is to save "precious human eggs" in making stem cells using cloning technology.