Quote:
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
Maryann Mott
National Geographic News
January 25, 2005
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing
chimeras-a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.
Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003
successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the
first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop
for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the
embryos to harvest their stem cells.
In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human
blood flowing through their bodies.
And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later this
year to create mice with human brains.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n..._chimeras.html
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Now I've got this image of Vincent Price's head on the body of a fly screaming
Help meeeeee!! Help meeeee!! (from the original movie "The Fly", for you youngsters). On the plus side, the phrase
hung like a horse takes on a whole new meaning...
Seriously, I can understand religious objections to this type of research -- that's a given. What about scientific/legal reasons? Like it or not, it is happening, and will continue. Opinions? Is this a great way to grow crops of donor organs for transplants? Would the human species be improved if some people had the strength of a gorilla, or the agility of a cat, or wings?