Half human organ transplants?
I'm no Luddite but this creeps me out.
Scientists have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.I'm all for stem cell research but somehow I would be more comfortable with growing new organs in petri dishes. The idea of cross-species research just conjures up visions of half-human movie monsters. I think I prefer a Brave New World scenario to a new Island of Dr. Moreau style uprising of wickedly modified creatures.
The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.
He has already created a sheep liver which has a large proportion of human cells and eventually hopes to precisely match a sheep to a transplant patient, using their own stem cells to create their own flock of sheep.
Labels: science
posted by Libby Spencer at 9:08 AM
5 Comments:
They're developing the perfect voter.
LOL Nolo. Good point...
our grandchildren will be electing the first chimera president
wv = evmil
Lester, that is a truly scary thought.
Whig, the whole thing just makes me squeamy and I don't think you can regulate it voluntarily or not. People will break the rules one way or the other for the money but the possible ramifications of mutated viruses and whatnot seems to me to be too great a risk.
I'm all for saving lives but I also think we've gone too far in prolonging it with science. Cheating death is a loser's game in the long run. Better to live your life well while you have it.
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