Vatican attacks human hybrids as 'monstrous act against human dignity'

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Days after the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority agreed in principle to license experiments for research, the Vatican's Bishop Elio Sgreccia accused the quango of crumbling "when confronted by requests from a group of scientists", who, he said, were "absolutely against morality".

Two teams of scientists hope to be able to create stem cells from their work that could unlock the secrets of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The so-called chimeras will be 99 per cent human and one per cent cow, and will be destroyed after 14 days.

A final decision from the HFEA is expected in November.

Bishop Sgreccia said the ruling crossed an important moral rubicon.

"That frontier, of the crossroads of distinct species, has been overstepped with the go-ahead of the British Government," he said.

Catholic leaders in England and Wales have also expressed grave concern.