A British regulatory agency this week granted two universities permission to develop human-animal linkurl:hybrid embryos;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/22210/ for stem cell research. Scientists intend to use the embryos, developed from human DNA in linkurl:non-human mammalian eggs,;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15405 for neurodegenerative and diabetes research. According to a linkurl:statement;http://www.hfea.gov.uk/en/377.html from Britain's Human Fertilsation and Embryology Authority, applications from Kings College London and Newcastle University "satisfied all the requirements of the law," and researchers were granted a one-year license to develop the embryos. Human embryonic stem cell research using oocytes is legal in Britian, a 2007 linkurl:report;http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/v9/n9/full/ncb436.html in __Nature Cell Biology__ said, "...but the shortage of donated human oocytes has prompted the search for an alternative, hence the idea of using animal eggs." A hat tip to the __Chronicle of Higher Education's__ linkurl:News Blog.;http://chronicle.com/news/article/3771/animal-human-hybrid-embryos-are-approved-in-britain
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