Scientists say that it could eventually lead to the creation of organs for transplant. The application has been submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA ) for a 3 year licence.

A chimera is an organism which has 2 or more genetically different groups of cells that originate from different organisms. A hybrid is a being made from the egg of one species and the sperm of another.

Chimeras of the same species can exist. The scientists seek permission to create non-human oocytes (eggs whose nuclei have been removed).

The stem cells they would like to create would be 99.9% human and 0.1% animal. The animal's egg would have no nucleus, but would contain minute quantities of mitochondrial DNA. The animal's egg would mix with human nuclei, a chimera oocyte would be formed and the stem cells harvested after a few days.

The scientists would attempt to extract stem cells from the blastocyst after six days and their quality and the viability would then be checked to see if nuclear transfer technique has worked. The scientists would also be observing the way that the cells are reprogrammed after fusion to see if there are useful processes they could replicate in the laboratory.

The embryo would have to be destroyed at 14 days old in accordance with the licence.

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