Everything Science Forum

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1626887020070617?feedType=RSS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Making human-animal embryos for scientific experiments should be allowed because of the benefits to science and medicine, British experts said in a report released for Sunday.

Such embryos should never, however, be implanted into either a woman or an animal, said the Academy of Medical Sciences.

The combinations would include animal eggs and the nucleus, containing the genetic material, of a human being, or human embryos that carry the genetic material of an animal, the independent advisory body said.

Last week, I heard the term Chimera(s) with respect to human-animal mixing.

Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal

Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0125_050125_chimeras.html)

I agree that they should not be developed beyond the lab.

And for years scientists have added human genes to bacteria and farm animals.

I'm having trouble finding information on this. Links anyone?

EDIT: Okay, I think this is called Xenotransplantation. *runs to Wiki*

Xenotransplantation refers to (for example) using a baboon heart for a person who needs a heart transplant.

There was a famous case some years ago in San Francisco of an AIDS patient who was considering this sort of transplant, and it raised national awareness on the use of animal tissue to promote human health.

Yeah, that's not what I was looking for. :annoyed.gif:

Genetic engineering. Genetically modified organisms. Got it.