British regulators will decide today whether to permit the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos for research into illnesses such as Parkinson's, Motor Neurone Disease and Alzheimer's.
Research in the controversial area has been on hold in Britain for nearly a year awaiting the outcome of a public consultation conducted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
Two teams of scientists have applied to the HFEA for permission to inject human cell nuclei into hollowed-out cow egg cells to overcome a shortage of donated human eggs.
Ccloned embryo cells
The resulting "cytoplastic hybrid" embryo, or "cybrid" would be 99.9 per cent human and 0.1 per cent animal.
The researchers hope to use the hybrid embryos to create stem cells to help find new medical treatments.
Opponents say mixing even a tiny amount of human genetic material with that of an animal is unnatural and wrong.
The HFEA will consider the two applications in November if it decides to approve in principle the creation of such hybrid embryos at a meeting today.
The regulators will consider evidence from the consultation which included an opinion poll of more than 2,000 people.
The survey found people supported the creation of the kind of hybrid embryos proposed by the two research teams, but only when they were given a reason for the experiments.
A majority of those asked - 61 per cent - gave their backing if the hybrids would help understand some diseases. That support fell to 35 per cent if the hybrids were being created purely for non-specific research.