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Patients with incurable crippling diseases may be denied the first effective treatments because of government plans to outlaw the creation of “human-animal” embryos.

The proposed ban on fusing human DNA with animal eggs is an affront to thousands of Britons suffering from conditions such as motor neuron disease and Alzheimer’s, leading scientists said yesterday.

In an attack on ministers, who are seeking legislation to prohibit such experiments, the scientists gave warning that it would deny society one of the most powerful tools for medical research.

They said that the Department of Health has fundamentally misunderstood the ethical implications of human-animal embryos and bowed to pressure from religious groups for an all-out ban. The technique, which produces embryos that are 99.5 per cent human, aims to address the shortage of human eggs for stem-cell research.

The proposal was set out in a White Paper reviewing fertility laws published last month. It will not become law for at least a year, but the Government’s intention already threatens to derail the research of three groups that want to use the technique, two of whom have applied for formal licences.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) meets next week to consider two applications in principle. Officials have told the scientists informally that approval is unlikely.

Professor Chris Shaw, of King’s College London, who is investigating motor neuron disease, said: “There are hundreds of thousands of patients in Britain with degenerative neurological conditions. We can use these cell lines to study them, and to see if drugs are going to be effective.

“To shut that down is a real affront to patients who are desperate for therapy. Of all these diseases, none are really treat- able. This is a very serious turning point in terms of science and medicine.”

Stephen Minger, who heads a separate King’s team that is looking at Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and spinal atrophy, said: “The Government appears to have taken a very negative view of human-animal eggs and this seems to have influenced the HFEA decision on whether or not to grant licences. It is really short-sighted and I am confused as to how the Government has come to this position.”

Ian Wilmut, of the University of Edinburgh, who led the team that created Dolly, the cloned sheep, and who now works with Professor Shaw, said: “This is all within the current Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. There is no reason to stop it. It would be a great shame for the patients and for British science. This is an area in which Britain has had a lead, and if we prohibit using animal oocytes it would become an area in which we would have a serious disadvantage.”

The scientists are keen to use animal eggs to create cloned human embryos as laboratory models for studying disease.

DNA or an entire cell from a patient with a condition such as motor neuron disease would be inserted into the shell of a rabbit or cow egg from which the nucleus has been removed. The resulting embryo would be more than 99.5 per cent human, and split up to create stem cells. It is already illegal to implant human-animal em- bryos in the womb or bring them to term.

Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister, has announced that the Government is minded to ban the creation of human-animal hybrid em-bryos, and “chimeras” in which cells from human and animal embryos are fused.

Ms Flint said that she expected the HFEA to take this position into account when ruling on the licence applications.

The proposals followed a public consultation, in which most participants opposed the creation of human-animal embyros. The scientists pointed out, however, that the exercise received just 535 responses, and was principally concerned with a different issue, the regulation of fertility treatment.