Lounge Daddy Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I just two unsettling articles linked up at Drudge: [url="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3204128.ece"]Human/animal hybrid embryos will be created 'within months'...[/url] [url="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/17/america/NA-MED-US-Cloned-Embryos.php"]MIX 'N MATCH: Scientists Produce Embryo Clones Of Two Men... [/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisianaCatholic Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 [quote name='Lounge Daddy' post='1447078' date='Jan 17 2008, 02:43 PM']I just two unsettling articles linked up at Drudge: [url="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3204128.ece"]Human/animal hybrid embryos will be created 'within months'...[/url] [url="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/17/america/NA-MED-US-Cloned-Embryos.php"]MIX 'N MATCH: Scientists Produce Embryo Clones Of Two Men... [/url][/quote] That is interesting because I was told by my "science and society" teacher today that cloning of chimpanzee and human embryos has already taken place. Is a hybrid the same as a clone? This definitely raises some interesting questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 All I can think about is the line from the Jurassic Park about the scientists being so interesting in seeing if they could do something, that they forgot to ask if they should do it. My dad lost most of his family to the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic that they think may have originated in either donkeys or pigs. The most dangerous epidemics start when animal diseases cross into humans. AIDS is probably from chimps originally, and they recently found Ebola to have come from bats. So why don't we start crossing human genes with pigs and chimps and see if we can create something even more horrible. Clones are exact replicas of another individuals, and hybrids are two or more individuals combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Man, that is so gross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontifite 7 of 10 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 We're doomed. We smell of elderberries. I hate us. Why do the smartest people do the stupidest things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounge Daddy Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 [quote name='Pontifite 7 of 10' post='1447134' date='Jan 17 2008, 07:02 PM']Why do the smartest people do the stupidest things?[/quote] hehe. This is a great example of the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffpugh Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 So, what is the point of putting human dna into a cow's cell? What does that do? What does that accomplish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kafka Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 it raises the question would God infuse the "thing" with a human soul? This is totally bizarre, at first I thought it was an urban legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deus te Amat Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Frankenstein. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kafka Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 actually I think God would infuse the embryo with a human soul since it is 99.9 percent genetically human. I dont know much about genetics but I imagine it would be equivalent to a person born with a genetic defect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deus te Amat Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Half of it's chromosomes would be taken from an animal. There is something called "genetic imprinting" which is where the parent leaves a genetic mark on it's DNA. The genetic code for the two species might be extremely similar, however, there are other factors that cause the extreme disparities between species. The offspring would not be the equivalent to a "genetic defect". It would be a mutant in itself. I cant even imagine what this could mean, or how the differences would reveal themselves. However, I dont think it would be human. The human might be the superior species intellectually, but what if the genes of the other animal were dominant over the human gene? Those traits would be shown. Also... this might actually cause spontaneous abortion, because, frankly, i dont know how the genes would be compatable. Codominance? That means it would be half human and half... Sorry I'm ranting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kafka Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 why did it say in the article that the result would be 99.9 percent human in genetic terms? I dont mean this sacastically I am honestly ignorant of genetics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deus te Amat Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 (edited) The DNA codes of all species are remarkably similar. Even the most distantly related species share most of the same genetic code. I think that the DNA of humans and chimps varies by only a few nitrogen bases... double digits i think. If half of the genes comes from a human, and half from the other... then that disparity would be cut in half. I am saying this based on my AP Biology experience. (We just finished with RNA replication, and we got into discussions on how species vary because of RNA etc.) I could very well be wrong, but applying that knowledge and other individual research to this situation... its is what i think would occur. There are factors besides the genetic code that are unique to species, like i said. I'm not sure what they mean by 99.9 percent genetically human. if it is a hybrid cross between two species... half would be from the cow and the other half would be from the human. The only rational explanation is that the code is already so similar to begin with. Edited January 18, 2008 by Deus_te_Amat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontifite 7 of 10 Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 My fear is that some disease will break out and we'll be turned into zombies or sometihng extreme. This is just so wrong. What type of lives will these children have (id they live). In a cage? tormented with never ending experiments? They won't be treated as humans, we'll have a new form of segregation if this escalates. I have a bad feeling. My Heart hurts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffpugh Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Wow, you're quite knowledgeable w/ this particular subject in this particular situation. Or at least you sound so. Thanks for the ranting/input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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