Letters: Frankenstein science

Last week the British government proposed overturning its ban on the creation of "human-animal embryos."

The draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill would allow scientists to create a chimeric embryo by injecting cells from an animal into a human embryo and a human transgenic embryo by injecting animal DNA into a human embryo. The first somatic cell nuclear transfers is named after the chimera -- the fire-breathing, three-headed female monster of Greek mythology.

A pre-natal being is not like any other tissue: It is human with its own DNA and, as a human, it has the same fundamental and moral right to life. The proposed therapy based on human embryos is immoral because it forever alters the basic genetic makeup of the person and all his or her future offspring.

Amazingly, although embryonic stem cell experiments have failed to produce a single, unqualified, therapeutic success even in animals, its proponents continue to laud their unproven and unethical methods, ignoring the fact that adult stem-cell therapies are being used extensively today in treating diseases.

We must help those who are suffering, but we must not use a good end to justify evil means. Human beings are not raw materials to be exploited or commodities that can be bought and sold. To suggest otherwise is to endorse a macabre interpretation of progress. This latest method of genetic manipulation is nothing more than Frankenstein science.

Paul Kokoski

Hamilton, Canada