Plans to ban the creation of hybrid animal-human embryos are "unacceptable and potentially harmful to UK science", a committee of MPs said yesterday.
The uncompromising conclusion of the Science and Technology Select Committee will ratchet up pressure on government ministers to back down over their proposals, when the draft Tissue and Embryos Bill is published next month.
The report was immediately welcomed by scientists, including Professor Ian Wilmut, leader of the team which created Dolly the Sheep.
The ban was also attacked by 223 medical research charities and patient organisations who yesterday sent a letter to the Prime Minister, calling for hybrid embryo research to be allowed to continue, on behalf of "those who know too painfully the reality of illness".
But their plea drew an angry response from ethics groups, who support the ban, arguing that hybrid embryos are "deeply offensive".
The controversy over hybrid embryos began after two teams of British researchers applied for permission to use animal eggs to create "cybrid" embryos that would be around 99.9% human and 0.1% rabbit, cow, pig, sheep or goat.
Such early stage embryos, no bigger than a pinhead, could provide a rich source of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which have the potential to become any kind of tissue.
Scientists want to use ESCs to develop new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cystic fibrosis, motor neurone disease and Huntington's.
Using animal hybrids would overcome the shortage of available human eggs and might also reduce the need to use animals when investigating diseases and new treatments.
But in December, the government unveiled plans to outlaw experiments involving the creation of human-animal embryos, citing a public consultation in which 277 of 300 respondents were against the creation of the hybrid embryos.
Yesterday, after taking evidence from a wide range of expert witnesses, the Science and Technology Committee has delivered a report which is highly critical of the government's proposed ban.
The MPs called for "permissive" legislation which would allow the regulation of animal-human hybrid research through licensing.
They were backed yesterday by 223 medical research charities and patient organisations, who have written a letter to Tony Blair and Health Minister Caroline Flint, calling for hybrid embryo research to be allowed to continue.
The signatories, who included Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation, are all affiliated to one of two umbrella organisations, the Association of Medical Research Charities and the Genetics Interest Group.
Yesterday's report was welcomed by the UK's leading stem cell scientists, including Professor Ian Wilmut, creator of Dolly the Sheep and director of the new Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
He is part of a group considering applying for a licence to use embryonic stem cells to help patients suffering from motor neurone disease.
However, Dr Calum MacKellar, director of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, said: "The deep offence arising in millions of UK citizens by the creation and destruction of animal-human embryos cannot be compensated by the uncertain advantages perceived by those who believe that such research may give rise to treatments for biological disorders."
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