Animal hybrids-monsters or your new best friend?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 9:48PM What if you took the risk to voice beliefs on a topic that went against everything you had ever been taught and everyone you know? Do you think your world would cave in and crush you? Probably not. And yet, you would likely feel compelled to do quite a bit of explaining to justify your position. Christopher Reeve became quite a strong advocate of stem cell research and he found he was continually justifying himself because many people think harvesting cells is wrong.
Consider the controversial scientific research where scientists now create animal-human hybrids. The public has very divergent views on animal stem cell research and general animal experiments in laboratories. Violent protests about this issue have gone on in parts of the United States.
In 2003, Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University 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 2004, in Minnesota, researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies. Perhaps there doesn't seem much of a risk in this procedure to you?
In 2005, at Stanford University in California, an experiment was conducted to create mice with human brains. This is another real life example of a chimera---creatures that are part human and part animal. In the not too distant past, this concept was only a legend in mythology.
Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing "spare parts," such as livers, to transplant into humans.
The 2005 movie, entitled, The Island, explored potential repercussions of using human clones to harvest organs for transplants. The popularity of that film in the box office reveals that such controversy draws audiences. How many people would choose to grow a clone to survive? Do we wish to really go there? If you reply no, I'd suggest that we already seem well on our way. A big question is, can we place limits on this technology or even go backwards to erase progress? Whatever your answer, you're also confronted with the decision to consider animal hybrid creatures monsters or your new best friend, whom you may feel compelled to murder in the future.
Reader Comments (2)
How human beings perceive and define animals is frequently changing with new genetic and other manipulation. On a basic level, humans may consider animals to be any living thing from the Kingdom Animalia, other than a human being. Yet, as you say, mixing species and traits seems to blur boundaries. I think of Ridley Scott's 1980 film, Bladerunner, and Star Trek, The Next Generation (TNG) t.v. series, which both question the human traits and feelings of an android (automated human being). Many modern ethical questions are raised about drug testing and animals. Imagine what kinds of testing you would permit to be carried out on you, if any at all.