London (dpa) - Scientists have successfully produced an embryonic pig-human hybrid, according to a British press report Sunday.

Human DNA was inserted into pig cells which became tiny embryos, said the report in The Sunday Times.

The researchers have not revealed what happened to them, but suggest they could have been grown further by being implanted into a womb - and that either a pig or a human mother would have been suitable.

The intentions of the researchers are not made clear in an application they have submitted to the European Patent Office. However, such embryos would be ideal for research into therapeutic cloning, when cells are cloned, grown into tissues such as nerve cells and then used to treat a patient.

The researchers, from Stem Cell Sciences in Australia and Biotransplant in America, both big players in the biotechnology industry, took a cell from a human foetus, extracted the nucleus and then inserted it into a pig's egg cell. Two embryos were grown to the 32-cell stage, which took a week.

Experts in medical ethics reportedly are deeply concerned about the patent application, which has a strong chance of being granted. They say the research exploits loopholes in European law. It is not illegal because the embryo is not technically human.

Dr Richard Nicholson, editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, told The Sunday Times: "This kind of research depends on devaluing human beings."

Nobody knows whether the hybrid embryos could have become living beings. The paper said they would be much more human than pig because about 97 per cent of DNA is in the nucleus, which was human. There would, however, be some effect from the 3 per cent of DNA from the pig.

(From Sohu)