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U.K. lawmakers voted to let scientists use stem cells derived from hybrid human-animal embryos in medical research.

As part of two days of debate on changes to laws on fertility research, members of Parliament voted 336 to 176 against an amendment to ban the use of hybrids. Prime Minister Gordon Brown allowed members of his party to vote with their consciences after church leaders condemned the plans as immoral.

Brown backs research using hybrid embryos and urged lawmakers to support the bill in a vote tonight. In a newspaper article yesterday, he praised hybrid techniques as an ``inherently moral endeavor'' and said they could save millions of lives. His younger son, Fraser, has cystic fibrosis, a condition that could potentially benefit from embryo research.

British scientists, who can conduct research that U.S. President George W. Bush restricted in 2001, are concerned they'll fall behind other countries if the measures in the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill are defeated. Chinese and U.S. academics already have produced stem cells extracted from part- human, part-animal embryos.

Proposed changes to the 1990 Human Fertilization...