We have created human-animal embryos already, say British team

We have created human-animal embryos already, say British team

www.timesonline.co.uk

Embryos containing human and animal material have been created in Britain for the first time, a month before the House of Commons votes on new laws to regulate the research.

A team at Newcastle University announced yesterday that it had successfully generated “admixed embryos” by adding human DNA to empty cow eggs in the first experiment of its kind in Britain.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.guardian.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
www.newscientist.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Plans for human-cow embryo
Inter-species clones backed
Human/Animal hybrids getting closer..
Rethink on human hybrid experiments

Here comes the slippery slope to genetic engineering. We are playing god and I don't like it. Its one thing to engineer out cancer and other deficiencies, it is another to cross-breed species.

Humans were not meant to mate with cows, and vice versa. I don't want to see any Frankenmonsters in the near future, especially not ones with human DNA.

Admixed embryos are widely supported by scientists and patient groups as they provide an opportunity to produce powerful stem-cell models for investigating diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes, and for developing new drugs.

As suspected, these beings will only be used as tissue donors and grown for their meat. That's pretty disgusting and does not help anyone in my opinion. Its equally as bad as growing human organs inside pigs and then slaughtering them at "harvest" time.

We are not god, never will be, and should not be acting like it.

Their creation, however, has been opposed by some religious groups, particularly the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, described the work last month as “experiments of Frankenstein proportion”.

Its kinda funny I didn't even finish reading the article and wrote frankenmonsters above . I guess I'm thinking along the same lines as the church...Wow.

Maybe I'm wrong .

The admixed embryos created by the Newcastle group are of a kind known as cytoplasmic hybrids, or cybrids, which are made by placing the nucleus from a human cell into an animal egg that has had its nucleus removed. The genetic material in the resulting embryos is 99.9 per cent human.

So we're testing on essentially human beings with .01 % cow DNA. That's a huge problem in the realm of human rights violations.

Why don't we just grow entire human beings for the elite few who can afford the bodies in the first place, right? That would cut out the whole process of using animals, and who cares about people anyway?

Its not like they're a living being or anything.

The BBC reported that the Newcastle cybrids lived for three days, and that the largest grew to contain 32 cells. The ultimate aim is to grow these for six days, and then to extract embryonic stem cells for use in research.

Thank god this is still in the testing stage and no chimaeras have been produced as a result (well not one that's large enough to cause serious harm to the world). I hope cloning and this kind of research is held against more rigorous human and animal rights laws than they have in the past.

We are creating life, and as such, deserves the respect of all life.

Once the technique has been tested, scientists hope to create cybrids from the DNA of patients with genetic diseases. The resulting stem cells could then be used as models of those diseases to provide insights into their progress and to test new treatments.

Ok Ok I can see where this is going and I'm not totally opposed to this, but do we really need to create human/animal hybrids in the process?

Why do we need to mix human and animal DNA?



www.timesonline.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by biggie smalls


Continued from the OP's source:

It is already illegal to culture human-animal embryos for more than 14 days, or to implant them in the womb of a woman or animal, and these prohibitions will remain in the new legislation.

6 days is legal, but 14 isn't? Sounds kind of funny. As long as the embryos die after less than 2 weeks its fine...What if the cells are...I don't know, accidentally smuggled out?

Professor John Burn, a member of the Newcastle team, told the BBC: “This is licensed work which has been carefully evaluated. This is a process in a dish, and we are dealing with a clump of cells which would never go on to develop. It’s a laboratory process and these embryos would never be implanted into anyone.

Medical researchers said last night that the experiments were important, but that they wanted to see published details before passing judgment on their merits.

So far this process is being contained in a laboratory. I don't see that staying there much longer once cloning and genetic engineering becomes more mainstream. Monsanto already G.E.'s corn and soy beans; they even have a patent.

What is to stop these scientists from patenting human and animal clones and embryos? The next logical step is to copyright what they're doing and make a steady profit.

We'll all have designer organ transplants in the future.

"Hey man I just got Nike feet!"

"Awesome dude. I hear you can like jump high and stuff."

"Yeah, they're alright. How's the Budweiser belly doing these days?"

"Its great, I can drink all the beer I want and never get a beer belly. I love genetic engineering!"

(This ad was sponsored in part by Nike Athletics and Anheiser-Busch).

[edit on 4/1/2008 by biggie smalls]

No offense but that's freaking awesome...

Mitch

Totally disgusting. People are flipping mad. What the hell is this world coming to? I'm glad I know what's happening but now I feel kind of sick.

They are putting human DNA into a cows egg to produce human embryos to experiment on, because experimenting on the same DNA in a human egg would be illegal.

This is a loophole. Just a way to say the embryos are not human.
When it is the very humanity that is required in the research.

This is doing worse things for the sake of chicken sh@t cowardice over doing the questionable thing in the firstplace.

I personally have no problem with them using the real thing.
I do have a problem with where they are taking this out of cowardice.

Did you know that 3 out of 4 human pregnancys abort by around the same phase these things are harvested. Nature does not prize these embryos so highly as fanatics do.

"They are putting human DNA into a cows egg to produce human embryos to experiment on, because experimenting on the same DNA in a human egg would be illegal."

Are you telling me that essentially we could actually OWN and use these human beings which are "only" 99.9% human as a slaves or a food without a fear of persecution because of a stupid human made mistake in a law book?
What happened to humanity in the last two centuries? When did we become such a perfect killing machines and oppressors?
ZERO moral standards is a name of the game.
This is making me almost as sick and furious as a picture and a voice of a dick cheney!

What can I say. I come from Britain, and I tell you anything goes here.

We need a liberation.

This does remind me Dulce Base. Read the Dulce files. The military has been doing this for over 20 years.

Well, according to Mr Al-Fayed, the Prince of Wales has already married a human-animal hybrid 'crocodile-wife'

*thanks to 'The Now Show' for that gag

[edit on 1-4-2008 by citizen smith]

reply to post by SteveR


I think you folks are too liberated, but that's a whole different topic .

Did you ever make it to Dulce? I'm not too far away from New Mexico and thought I might take a trip to some of the government bases in the not so distant future to see what kind of trouble I can get myself into.


MitchMagic,

How in the world is this "freaking awesome?"

We're more or less genetically engineering humans because 99.9% of the DNA would be human (that's where the .01% cow comes in).

Before long we'll be breeding "smart cows" that will ask us to milk them and revolt when we try to slaughter them.

I guess I'm cool with that

I thought the cow part was much larger. I must have read wrong. I just though to have cows walking around with human legs (or vice versa) would be absolutely hilarious...

I don't see anything bad coming from that except some great comedy...

Mitch

reply to post by biggie smalls


I will accompany you to Dulce if you want to make a serious effort.

Re: liberation. . We have had crappy governments for the past 50 years.

This is "udderly" ridiculous... Speaking of which... Ugh! Is there anything us guys won't stoop to in the quest for larger mammaries? Come on! Splicing in COW DNA?!? Victoria's Secret better get their R&D team cracking to stay ahead of this new "development".

[edit on 4/1/08 by redmage]

I thought this was rather old news. I have mentioned this to friends at work for years now. Read about it on the (gasp) Alex Jones web site. www.prisonplanet.com...

www.ens-newswire.com...
news.bbc.co.uk...
They were even talking about it in 1998. I would say they started around that time.
query.nytimes.com...

They have mixed human and rabbit as well.
rabbit/human embryo

Anyone remember the glowing pigs?
news.bbc.co.uk...

My personal opinion is that it is really a waste of time to do this. Not to mention if they find a way to get these things to grow into children or adults the risks involved. What kind of life would such a creature have?

Seeing as how they are not entirely human does that mean they do not have rights other than what an animal has? If so will it be similar to The Island of Doctor Moreau. Strange how some books come to life in the future, after all it was written in the 19th century. Will these things be the servants of the future? Or as disgusting as it is maybe sex slaves or even future mates?

When is it really considered too far?

Raist


[edit on 4/1/08 by Raist]

[edit on 4/1/08 by Raist]

[edit on 4/1/08 by Raist]

Evolution . The new manifest destiny.

What would have been 500000 years of people raping cows is now a 12 hour surgery .

Gotta love science. Besides if its born from a cow does it really fall under gods laws? Talk about a great loophole. I wish i was one of these kids

[edit on 1-4-2008 by oLDWoRLDDiSoRDeR]

Am I the only one that is entirely for cloning research? I guess the reason I don't understand these "playing god" comments because I'm not religious. I don't see why they can't make cow people. They were pretty badass in the world of warcraft. I don't see why scientists can't make an entire justice league of mythological hybrids.

Well I am actually completely for animal-human hybrids

Playing God? Sure. Does God care?..

God gave us the minds and the resources to advance science. That much is clearly obvious (if you believe in God), if you look at all the things we have created. We have not been smoted for creating black-hole makers!!

Why is animal-human hybrids so intrusive to you guys? I think it's because it messes with peoples concept of what it means to be "human" and their self-identity.

I personally think it's less to do with 'human' and more to do with 'sentience', i.e awareness of your emotional-self. If hybrids can see good and evil, choose right and wrong, then they can exist in our world just as well as we can.

I don't see why that's "disgusting"... Nor do I get all this "playing god" talk. I am willing to bet alot of you have no qualms with science advancing itself in exponential and transcendental ways if it directly improves your life. Is hybrids so horrible, disgusting and immoral becaue you don't think it will help humanity? Maybe that's why aliens don't wanna make first contact eh? Just some food for thought guys.

What about androids with sentience? Is that disgusting and immoral? If their sentience is modelled after human sentience? Or is it just the biological factors here that have you guys so flippin concerned? So...humans have less human DNA.. meh. I will still be me, and you will still be you. This isn't changing our DNA. It's changing their DNA. Besides, who's to say we can't just goto the local clinic and make easy DNA adjustments? The Future is gonna be here in like 10 years I think

I can't wait to see cat people, werewolves, elephantmen, et cetera, drinking lattes at the local coffee shop. Maybe I can discuss philosophy with rhino-dude at the local pup too? Honestly I embrace this idea for the same reason I embrace the idea of meeting new people and learning new things. It will expand my soul.

If they are sentient they diserve equal rights to humans. We should at that point just call it "Sentient Rights".

I am all for it

[edit on 123030p://2u37 by Lucid Lunacy]

Originally posted by MrAndy
Am I the only one that is entirely for cloning research? I guess the reason I don't understand these "playing god" comments because I'm not religious. I don't see why they can't make cow people. They were pretty badass in the world of warcraft. I don't see why scientists can't make an entire justice league of mythological hybrids.

I'm right there with you man

As long as they don't create those gnomes that is... they are freaky dudes.

Consider this for a moment...

1. Man creates sentient silicon-based lifeforms (or AI).
2. Man leaves the robots behind (ascends, leaves the planet, whatever).
3. Robots evolve to a point and start making hybrids of themselves.

Is this wrong? Is this playing god? Because we're just machines too, biological ones of course.

I know it sounds repulsive... even I thought "ohh gross!" when I read the headline, but I took a step back and tried to think about it from a logical perspective... and well, I don't see anything wrong with it unless the purpose of these hybrids is nefarious.

Here are a few more links about human animal hybrids.
www.msnbc.msn.com...
Taken from:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The list for links to threads on ATS is terribly long here are a few I remember reading before. There were many others.

It amazes me though that this has been going on for so long and still makes the news. But then again I am amazed that more people do not know about this going on.

It might not be going on in the same countries but those doing it have to have some close connections. Right now it is embryos, and some adult (animals?), but this could change. How long will it be before we find out they have had some strange mixed creature alive for years? When we find this out will we also be told what exactly has been happening to the poor beast?

I believe that these things if raised somehow could really fall under some cruel times. Maybe they would rise up and take over the planet in a fashion similar to that of the “Planet of the Apes” theme. Given the track record of how humans treat things/beings different from themselves I do not see a bright future for anything like this if brought to full term.

Raist