I can't believe I'm actually posting this article, but read this [5]:
Capping a months-long scientific and ethics review, British regulators said yesterday that they are prepared to allow the creation of embryos that are part human and part animal for use in medical experiments.
The ruling by the Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority, which oversees human embryo research in Britain [6], means that two previously submitted proposals to create hybrid embryos -- on hold while the agency considered whether it would even look at them -- will be evaluated in detail. Decisions on those proposals, widely anticipated to be positive, are expected in November.
The prime goal of the research is to create embryos from which embryonic stem cells that may be medically useful can be extracted. The embryos would be made by injecting human DNA into cow or rabbit eggs whose own DNA has been largely, but not fully, removed. ...
But opponents have argued that it is no less unethical to create partly human embryos solely to harvest their stem cells, and some opponents have raised the specter of rogue scientists growing the embryos into weird human-animal creatures.
The embryo authority acknowledged those concerns and promised to watch the field closely.
Oh, well now I feel better. The group charged with watching the scientists (which is made up of scientists) will "watch the field closely".
Have we really slipped so far down the slope where it's necessary to rasie objections to the idea of creating half-human/half-animal embryos?? What will we have to object to next?
And keep in mind that our good friends across the pond are always just a little farther down the slope than we are on these types of things. Meaning that we can usually get a good idea of where we're heading by seeing where they are. If we're smart, we'll treat them like the proverbial canary in a coal mine...and we'll change our course pretty quick. No doubt the scientists will object.
