Scientists in the U.K. claim — claim — to have created embryos and stem cells by inserting human DNA into cow eggs. It’s raising hackles as you might expect.

The work, led by Lyle Armstrong at Newcastle University, skirts laws that prevent piddling with human eggs in the same manner.

“Animal eggs are much easier to obtain than human eggs and they effectively act as a ’shell’ to carry human DNA,” the researchers say in their FAQ.

The goal is to mass produce human stem cells for use in research designed to lead toward disease cures.

“If the team can produce cells which will survive in culture it will open the door to a better understanding of disease processes without having to use precious human eggs,” said John Burn, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at the university. “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.”

The Australian Herald-Sun reports the embryos survived three days and were considered 99 percent human. The Catholic Church in Britain has called such creations “monstrous.” Kevin McGovern, director of the Caroline Chisholm Centre for Health Ethics, is quoted by the Herald-Sun:  “An almost-human embryo is being created and then it’s being destroyed,” McGovern said. “I cannot see that that respects human life or the dignity of human life.

Others worry that work like this will lead to freaks of nature … chimeras that are part human, part animal. A Reuters story quotes Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania: “In my view there is no risk of making monsters this way. The biology will not work. Nor is that the intent of any of these experiments anyway, so I don’t think that fear is justified.”

Only a kook would try to make a chimera, and no reputable institution would fund him. Instead, this is about disease research.

However, the apparent breakthrough has yet to be reviewed, verified and published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is the normal course of action for significant scientific advances. Instead, this group announced their results at a conference last week. That’s premature, and a shame.

“This data needs to be verified and Dr. Armstrong and Newcastle University will be following the peer review system as is normal procedure,” the university said in a statement.

Let’s hope all the hullabaloo isn’t over nothing. You can find more background on the story in my Jan. 18 blog when the British government made this legal.