Ananova:

Plans to clone embryos in a bid to create new cures for genetic diseases have been condemned as "immoral" by one of Britain's leading Catholics.

MPs are to be given a free vote on the controversial issue when it goes before the Commons but Cardinal Thomas Winning, head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, warned that approving the research would "pave the way" for designer babies.

The move, backed by leading British scientists from the Royal Society, was fundamentally wrong and would make Britain a "pariah" state, he said.

He told the BBC: "The end is good. Finding new treatment for disease but the means are immoral because these tiny cloned, human beings are killed before they develop. This scenario will become reality in a matter of months unless we waken up."

The Cardinal said the proposed 14-day limit for experimentation, after which it could not take place, was arbitrary.

He also voiced "alarm" that MPs would spend just 90 minutes debating the issue before "crossing the moral Rubicon" and voting on it.

The Cardinal insisted the Church was not backward-looking, but said the proposals were a step too far and alternatives were available.

"I wish science was more advanced too, so it hurts me when people paint the church as being somehow anti-progress," he said.

"In fact I look upon any medical or scientific progress as if God were opening up the secrets of creation for our benefit. The truth is, research is not a problem for us. How it is done is the problem."