April 2 (Bloomberg) -- The creation of the U.K.'s first part-human, part-animal embryos may increase pressure on Parliament for tougher regulations on stem cell research.

Lyle Armstrong and colleagues at Newcastle University made embryos using human cells and a cow egg, the college said yesterday in a statement on its Web site. Debate in the U.K. over the so-called hybrid embryos increased after Catholic leaders, in Easter sermons, attacked the technique used for making stem cells. Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Edinburgh said creating such embryos were ``experiments of Frankenstein proportion.''

Parliament is discussing changes to a 1990 law that governs stem cell research, including the hybrid work. U.K. scientists, who can conduct research U.S. President George W. Bush restricted in 2001, are concerned that they'll fall behind other countries if legislation before Parliament is defeated. Chinese and U.S. academics already have produced stem cells extracted from part- human, part-animal embryos.

The new hybrids ``will open the door to a better understanding of disease processes without having to use precious human eggs,'' John Burn, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, said in the statement. ``Cells grown using animal eggs cannot be used to treat patients on safety grounds but they will help bring nearer the day when new stem cell therapies are available.''

Armstrong presented preliminary data last month at a lecture in Israel, and is working to verify the data, the university said yesterday.

Lobbying, Debates

In response to the criticism from religious leaders, medical organizations are organizing supporters to lobby legislators. O'Brien has agreed to a Catholic lawmaker's request that he meet researchers who want to use hybrid embryos. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales, wants a national bioethics panel established.

Two days after O'Brien's Easter sermon, Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed to allow lawmakers in his Labour party and Cabinet ministers to vote based on their consciences as opposed to their party's position when they're polled in May or June. Three of Brown's Cabinet ministers are Catholic and may have resigned rather than support the bill.

Among the proposed changes to the 1990 Human Fertilization and Embryology Act is a provision allowing researchers to generate stem cells from hybrid embryos.

How it Works

The embryos are created by inserting DNA from the skin cell of a person into animal eggs whose own nucleus and genetic material have been removed. The law would prohibit developing hybrid embryos beyond 14 days or transferring them to a person or animal.

Embryonic cells are valued because they have the ability to turn into any of the roughly 210 cell types found in the human body. Researchers want to make hybrid embryos using the DNA of humans with incurable conditions such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes and spinal cord injury. The resulting stem cells would give another way to study the diseases and develop treatments. Human eggs are in short supply and donating them can be uncomfortable for women.

The House of Lords passed the bill in January after three hearings. Debate on it is scheduled to begin in the House of Commons in May.

That same month, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, the agency overseeing embryological research, gave Armstrong and Stephen Minger of King's College London one-year licenses to use hybrid embryos, after the group held public hearings on the matter.

Poll Results

The regulator cited a poll that found 61 percent of Britons it surveyed agreed scientists should be allowed to use hybrid embryos for research that might help them to understand diseases.

The Association of Medical Research Charities and the Genetic Interest Group, which together represent 245 U.K. charities for conditions such as Parkinson's disease, cystic fibrosis and multiple sclerosis, asked the 646 members of the House of Commons to support the bill in a March 19 letter.

``We've got 3 million patients in the U.K. who could potentially benefit from the treatments that could be delivered by this research,'' said Nick Meade, a policy officer for the Genetic Interest Group.

The government-backed Medical Research Council and AMRC member charities, including the Wellcome Trust, have spent about 90 million pounds ($178 million) funding stem-cell research projects in the U.K. since 2002.

Postcard Protests

At Easter Masses, Catholic worshippers were given postcards protesting against the proposals to send to their parliamentary representatives. Catholic leaders in London, Liverpool and Birmingham joined O'Brien in coming out against the bill in their sermons.

``It does seem extraordinary that the HFEA should have granted a license before there has been a full public and parliamentary debate,'' the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales said today in a statement. ``There must be a thorough public discussion about the serious ethical issues raised by the possibility of creating human-animal hybrid embryos.''

The Church opposes all research and procedures that tamper with embryos. Embryonic stem cells haven't produced any cures so far and medical research could do without them or hybrids by focusing on adult stem cells, mature cells that have developed into specific tissue types, the Catholic Bishops' Conference argues.

`Unnecessary'

``Regardless of where you stand on this issue, it's wholly unnecessary to use human embryos'' in stem-cell research, said David Alton, a Catholic layman and House of Lords member who doesn't belong to a political party. Alton unsuccessfully sought to block the hybrid embryo provision in the bill in January.

Charities are arranging meetings with lawmakers to present their case, Kieran Breen of the Parkinson's Disease Society said. His group has asked its members to contact their representatives in Parliament and let them know what is at stake for sufferers.

``If the bill or sections of the bill don't go through, that could put research and our understanding of conditions like Parkinson's back by a number of years,'' Breen, director of research and development, said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Gerlin in London at agerlin@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 2, 2008 05:08 EDT