So it's come to this now... The fusing of human cells and cattle egg cells for the purposes of creating a developing embryo.  Only to THEN destroy it to harvest the embryonic stem cells of, who knows what to call, this hybrid thing.

They said they had hollowed out the egg cells of cattle, inserted human DNA to create a growing embryo, and then taken it apart to get embryonic stem cells.

I just love how this is explained as an "interim step" in the article.  In the history of all scientific "advancement" mankind has pursued, exactly how many times has such an "achievement" been made, only to later pull the reigns in and a consensus be reached to never broach that territory again?  It doesn't really happen.

Other experts agreed such work would only be an interim step aimed at understanding the biology of embryonic stem cells — the body's ultimate master cells, which can give rise to all of the other cells and tissues. 

Some members of our scientific community seem to be bypassing the idea of "playing God" altogether and are showing that they actually have no qualms or shame in jumping straight to playing Dr. Frankenstein.

News From Around the 'Sphere:

On the trail...

* GOP Hopefuls To Square Off in Party's First CNN/YouTube Format Debate - CNN

* Fact Check: Romney and the Crime Issue - Yahoo

* Streisand Backs Clinton Presidential Bid - MSNBC

* Huckabee's Rise Draws Attention to Record – Fox News

* Clinton, Obama Slugfest Gets Nasty - CNN

News:

* Researchers Implant Aborted Fetal Tissue in Mouse Hybrids – Cybercast News Service 

* China's Action Troubles Admiral - The Washington Times

* Musharraf Steps Down as Army's Military Leader - CNN

* Bush: "Time is Right, Cause is Just" for Middle East Peace Talks - USA Today

Opinion:

* People Before Prophets – Peggy Noonan - Wall Street Journal

* An Ethical Brave New World - Doug Patton - The Conservative Voice

* A Comeback for Communism - Steve Chapman - The Washington Times

Some results from issues that were on the ballot yesterday, via the AP:

Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's first statewide school voucher program that promised tax dollars for private tuition, no matter how much a family earned or whether kids were in bad schools.

In another of the most closely watched questions on state ballots Tuesday, New Jersey voters rejected the state's plan to borrow $450 million over 10 years to finance stem cell research. In Oregon, residents decided against hiking the cigarette tax to pay for health care for kids who don't have it. ...

...more... 

The New Jersey measure had been one of the nation's most ambitious public efforts to fund stem cell research.

Multimillionaire Gov. Jon Corzine campaigned heavily for the measure and spent $200,000 of his own money on TV ads for it. He argued the funding would help find cures for conditions such as spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, sickle cell anemia and multiple sclerosis while also luring leading scientists and research firms to the state.

But the measure was opposed by anti-abortion activists, conservatives and the Roman Catholic Church because it would pay for research that destroys human embryos and would increase state debt.

"It's a reinforcement of our values and a rebuke to the governor," said Steve Lonegan, a conservative Republican who led opposition to the question. "The taxpayers are saying enough is enough." ...

...more taxpayer common sense

Among the other measures on ballots Tuesday:

_ Oregon voters opted not to raise the cigarette tax by 84.5 cents a pack — to $2.02 — to fund health insurance for about 100,000 children now lacking coverage. Tobacco companies opposing the measure outspent supporters by a 4-1 margin, contributing nearly $12 million.

_ Texans authorized up to $3 billion in bonds over 10 years to create a cancer research center. The proposal was pushed by cycling champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and opposed by some fiscal conservatives.

_ Voters in the northeast Ohio city of Streetsboro, where a 19-year-old fell short of reaching a runoff in the mayoral primary last May, raised the legal age to run for mayor or council from 18 to 23.

It says something about how secure your politicians are when they lead an effort to keep teenagers from running against them.

I can't believe I'm actually posting this article, but read this:

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, 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.