"Human beings have one nature only, specifically separated from the nature of all other animals"; so one should wonder whether it is "right to trespass that boundary of the species, and try to mix the human and animal natures together". This was stated by Peter Smith, archbishop of Cardiff and president of the Department for Christian responsibility and citizenship of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, just after the go-ahead given by the Hfea, the British Fertilisation and Embryology authority, to the creation of hybrid embryos (made of up of human and animal genes, editor’s note) for research purposes. "Instead of promoting an ethically-problematic type of research, such as that on hybrid embryos goes on Smith -, why don’t we encourage research in the tested and uncontroversial area of adult stem cells? The Catholic Church is not against all stem cell research and powerfully supports research on adult stem cells and on cells from the blood of the umbilical cord", a way "which has already led to some important clinical benefits, while the research in embryo stem cells has produced nothing yet".
