The “human-animal hybrid” is the latest bioethics issue, writes J. Scott Orr in Friday’s RNS report: In his State of the Union address, President Bush vowed to pursue legislation to outlaw all forms of “human-animal hybrids,” a what-the-heck phrase that may have left Americans wondering if the president was asking Congress to ban centaurs and mermaids. It was, instead, a reference to the latest debate over the definition of human life and where to draw the line in merging human and animal cells and genes. At issue is the creation of so-called “chimeras,” generally defined as beings that share human and animal cells. Backers of this brand of biotechnology say chimeras are used routinely by researchers who bear no resemblance to mad scientists. But religious conservatives say science, by creating new life forms, is tampering with the work of God. They are joined by some ethicists in warning that the merging of animal and human cells should be banned, lest humankind be faced with all kinds of moral decisions about the rights of newly created man-beasts.
Following are some examples of chimera research projects as compiled by the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. They are listed in a sidebar to the story:
-Sheep/human chimeras
Researchers at the University of Nevada at Reno added human stem cells to sheep fetuses in an attempt to create a reliable source of livers for transplant patients. Some sheep have livers with up to 80 percent human cells that produce compounds made by human livers. The sheep also have human cells in their hearts and brains.
-Pig/human chimeras
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota are studying specially bred pigs as a source of organs for human transplant. They are also studying the risk of transmitting pig diseases to humans through the organs. They have developed a line of pigs that have pig blood cells, human blood cells and hybrid blood cells.
-Mice with human brain cells and immune systems
Researchers at Stanford University have injected human neural stem cells into mouse fetuses. The mice have brains that are about 1 percent human. They have been developed to better understand neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s diseases. Mice have also been developed with a nearly human immune system. They are used to test the
response of the AIDS virus to new drugs.
-Monkey-human chimeras
Researchers at St. Kitts Biomedical Foundation in the Caribbean have implanted immature human brain cells deep into the brains of vervet monkeys in hopes of developing a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The human cells are injected into the dopamine-producing area of the monkeys’ brains to see whether the cells can grow and increase dopamine production.
In time for this weekend’s Academy Awards, Chris Herlinger considers the religious winners: Oscar time is a time to take stock: How well were religious, spiritual or moral experiences and themes presented last year in the movies? If anything is notable about a year in which there was not a religious blockbuster to command public debate, it is that so many general interest films represented well-traversed, even well-worn genres. “Kingdom of Heaven” gave audiences their dose of grand historical narrative and clash of religions, while “The Chronicles of Narnia” and the latest “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” films put a fresh spin-not to mention elaborate and sophisticated special effects-on retelling old myths. Yet none of these films came close to being one film scholar’s favorite. That honor goes to a movie largely overlooked by the Academy Awards: David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence,” the chronicle of an upright family man’s confrontation with evil and his past that explores familiar ethical and moral terrain.
