British team creates first human-animal hybrid embryo

[dong20]

I read this and wondered, is Dumbcow is leading a double life?

For the first time in Britain, researchers at Newcastle University have created human-animal hybrid embryos, amid an ongoing political row about a disputed embryo research bill which is due to be put to parliament next month.

The embryos were created by injecting DNA taken from human skin cells into eggs derived from cow ovaries with almost all their genetic material stripped away, and lasted for three days in a laboratory.

British team creates first human-animal hybrid embryo - Yahoo! News UK

 

[Drifterwood]

Huxley.

Soma anyone?

 

[lucky8]

what good could possibly come from doing this

 

[deleted136887]

I'm a non-believer, so got no relegious objections. Pandora is getting out of the box. Who pays for this kind of research, anyway? Some-one must be making money.

 

[B_jacknapier]

A cat or a fox would have been cooler

 

[StrictlyAvg]

what good could possibly come from doing this

Human eggs are both difficult to work with and hard to get hold of where breeding lab animals to harvest their eggs poses somwhat less ethical issues. The good that comes from it is in improving the metrics of stem cell production to treat degenerative diseases such as Parkinsons - stem cells being useful little things that your body can turn into any type of human cell. Degenerative diseases reduce or halt your body's ability to make them.

Seek out peer reviewed journals for better info but these might be heavy going - try hunting around the New Scientist website for something a layman like you or me might be able to digest.


hybrid FAQ
BBC NEWS | Health | Q&A: Hybrid embryos

Chimera FAQ
BBC NEWS | Health | Of mice and men

 

[Principessa]

I read this and wondered, is Dumbcow is leading a double life?

For the first time in Britain, researchers at Newcastle University have created human-animal hybrid embryos, amid an ongoing political row about a disputed embryo research bill which is due to be put to parliament next month.

The embryos were created by injecting DNA taken from human skin cells into eggs derived from cow ovaries with almost all their genetic material stripped away, and lasted for three days in a laboratory.

British team creates first human-animal hybrid embryo - Yahoo! News UK

Why do this? To what end? Is this going to cure cancer, AIDS? Parkinson's or Alzheimer's? Didn't think so. :12:

On a lighter note, have these mental midgets not seen Jurassic Park or Frankenstein. Mixing human DNA with that of animals just seems wrong. It's playing God. :12:

 

[D_golden parachute]

Read the post by StrictlyAvg

I hate people being opposed to things like this.

I love how it is my city that comes up with most of the modern day breakthroughs in the UK

 

[B_stanmarsh14]

I thought this had something to do with the Welsh and sheep :biggrin1:

 

[mattyacht]

NJQT,
It's ta make men with bull cocks and balls LOL!!!!

 

[Gillette]

what good could possibly come from doing this

To make men with honest to god horse cocks.

Human eggs are both difficult to work with and hard to get hold of where breeding lab animals to harvest their eggs poses somwhat less ethical issues. The good that comes from it is in improving the metrics of stem cell production to treat degenerative diseases such as Parkinsons - stem cells being useful little things that your body can turn into any type of human cell. Degenerative diseases reduce or halt your body's ability to make them.

Oh, ok. These are good reasons as well.

Why do this? To what end? Is this going to cure cancer, AIDS? Parkinson's or Alzheimer's? Didn't think so. :12:

Honey, the answer was posted an hour before you asked this. And that answer was "Yes."


Kudos to Stanmarsh14, that was a good one.

 

[B_dumbcow]

I read this and wondered, is Dumbcow is leading a double life?

Maybe I am a grown up cowhuman thing... :wink:

 

[ManlyBanisters]

I hate people being opposed to things like this.

That's a very unreasonable position. People have different reasons for being opposed to certain forms of scientific research / procedure.

Why do this? To what end? Is this going to cure cancer, AIDS? Parkinson's or Alzheimer's? Didn't think so. :12:

On a lighter note, have these mental midgets not seen Jurassic Park or Frankenstein. Mixing human DNA with that of animals just seems wrong. It's playing God. :12:

The playing God argument is stupid. Frozen peas, by extension of that arguement, are an abhoration. Think about it. A pea is meant to dry out / go off after 3 or 4 days - that's natural - but if you freeze it it can last 6months with no degradation at all. Unnatural!! Devilry!! Etc., etc.. Bull. Playing God is not the issue.

And yes, as was pointed out, those diseases certainly could be fought quite effectively with the use of stem cells.

Human eggs are both difficult to work with and hard to get hold of where breeding lab animals to harvest their eggs poses somwhat less ethical issues. The good that comes from it is in improving the metrics of stem cell production to treat degenerative diseases such as Parkinsons - stem cells being useful little things that your body can turn into any type of human cell. Degenerative diseases reduce or halt your body's ability to make them.

All true - the problem a lot of religious people have with embryo research of any kind is that we believe that even a zygote is life. When that zygote (then embryo) has human DNA it is a human life. That's a belief. You can't tell people it is or isn't so and there are all sorts of arguments made about when life starts from a scientific view point - but if a person believes that life starts as the moment of conception then that's their belief.

Anyway - that is where my problem with this kind of research lies - embryos are 'created' and discarded. I can't be OK with 'discarded' bit because, for me, that's morally the same as children or adults being experimented on and allowed to die.

 

[Drifterwood]

Men playing God - Ha ha.

No it's "men" playing "men". It's what our species does, we can't help ourselves.

I can't accept that your religion or anyone else's has a line on "God", and what the will of God might be, for that matter. I wish I could find a better word than arrogant, but I can't, I have always found it perhaps the ultimate arrogance that a human can say what the will of God is. Maybe it is God's will that we discover these things, or are we supposed to resist our ability and thirst for knowledge as some type of bizarre test.

I know we can never agree on this Man Ban because you have a premise of faith that I don't have. But I have a strange feeling that one of us or our families will be saved one day because of the break throughs of stem cell technology. I hope you won't be refusing the treatment.

 

[dong20]

Why do this? To what end? Is this going to cure cancer, AIDS? Parkinson's or Alzheimer's? Didn't think so. :12:

Well, I didn't say it would do any of those things neither did I conduct the research. I merely posted an article that I found interesting for discussion. That said, that you asked the question and answered it - I can only assume you didn't actually read the article. If you had you probably would have thought more deeply before writing the above, or perhaps not.

On a lighter note, have these mental midgets not seen Jurassic Park or Frankenstein. Mixing human DNA with that of animals just seems wrong. It's playing God. :12:

Who are the mental midgets? Professional geneticists are called many things but I doubt mental midgets would be fair characterisation.

The 'playing God' stance is a typical refuge of those who neither understand nor can formulate a rational argument against such issues. If your argument is that it's 'unnatural' then by that logic shouldn't organ transplants, IVF and numerous other procedures we take for granted also represent 'playing God'? I don't know, do you believe that's the case?

I know (or at least have stated a much) you do ardently believe in the death penalty. That's your right of course, but I seem to recall reading somewhere that the power of man's life and death was reserved unto God. It appears your interpretation of God's remit is a little ... irrational?

Of course the argument also requires one believes in God - or (and, based on the evidence of human behaviour I see) the low probability that he would give two hoots what we do.

 

[Jason]

what good could possibly come from doing this

Lots.

This technology is being presented as the way we are going to cure many, many diseases. Alzheimers, Parkinsons and Muscular Dystrophy are at the top of the list. Cancer is not far behind. A whole range of cardio-vascular illnesses are on the list

The UK press is full of this story at the moment as the bill is going through parliament. Every MP will have been lobbied for and against, and there is active debate from the local pub to the cabinet office. We've had the Frankenstein's monster headlines. But overwhelmingly the scientific community is stating that this technology is going to get miracle results very soon. They say we are going to have cures for diseases we can't now cure within a matter of a few years.

The scientific view seems so loud and clear that I don't see that we can ignore it. It is not an idle promise. It is developmental work which leads to results that are as certain as anything is in this world. Public oppinion seems to be swinging in favour. Some chirches have stated that they are in favour, and there has been a positive statement from a Jewish leader. The Roman Catholic church opposes.

Maybe Americans should see what their presidential candidates think on this issue. Does America want cures for many horrible killer diseases? Does America want people to die because the reearch has been rejected?

Or does America want Britain to do the research and sell the cures at a nice fat profit :biggrin1:

 

[Drifterwood]

Or does America want Britain to do the research and sell the cures at a nice fat profit :biggrin1:

Just wait till we find the enormous cock gene. :smile:

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Men playing God - Ha ha.

No it's "men" playing "men". It's what our species does, we can't help ourselves.

I can't accept that your religion or anyone else's has a line on "God", and what the will of God might be, for that matter. I wish I could find a better word than arrogant, but I can't, I have always found it perhaps the ultimate arrogance that a human can say what the will of God is. Maybe it is God's will that we discover these things, or are we supposed to resist our ability and thirst for knowledge as some type of bizarre test.

I know we can never agree on this Man Ban because you have a premise of faith that I don't have. But I have a strange feeling that one of us or our families will be saved one day because of the break throughs of stem cell technology. I hope you won't be refusing the treatment.

I agree with you on the God's will point - but I don't think you were addressing me with that one.

I would refuse treatment in a situation where I felt that a human had been killed in order to save my life yes, I would. I would no more take treatment harvested from a process that involved embryos being created and destroyed than I would take a healthy person's heart, if they grew humans for spare parts.

 

[Drifterwood]

If I may play then?

You lose consciousness because of an illness.

Medical science saves you through a technology developed through stem cell research.

You survive.

But you can't kill yourself can you?

 

[hotbtminla]

The 'playing God' stance is a typical refuge of those who neither understand nor can formulate a rational argument against such issues. If your argument is that it's 'unnatural' then by that logic shouldn't organ transplants, IVF and numerous other procedures we take for granted also represent 'playing God'? I don't know, do you believe that's the case?

I would expand upon your point Dong, in that the "Playing God" logic can be applied to the practice of medicine in an even more general sense. The administration of antibiotics goes against nature, as does sterilization of surgical or dental tools.

I wince whenever I hear someone have a knee-jerk reaction to stuff like this. Throughout history major scientific discoveries were arrived at by what were considered by most lay people at the time as unorthodox, heretical or flat-out bizarre.