Human Animal Hybrid...Scary? Not So Much

TW: This is one of those issues that superficially sounds concerning but when peeled back a bit is not. Conservatives are pushing to ban "human-animal" hybrid research. Why would anyone want to blend the two? Upon review there are legitimate reasons- to accelerate research to save human lives, not to build Frankensteins.

Not surprisingly I suppose the same conservatives who oppose abortions and things like stem cell research in almost all circumstances are continuing their self-defined pursuit of "human dignity" to seek the abolition of hybrid research in the U.S.

From The Hill:
" Senate Republicans have introduced legislation to ban the creation of human-animal hybrids.

Led by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), 19 Republicans and 1 Democrat introduced a bill yesterday that would prevent U.S. researchers from developing embryos that use both human and animal material, a controversial practice underway in the UK.

..."What was once only science fiction is now becoming a reality, and we need to ensure that experimentation and subsequent ramifications do not outpace ethical discussion and societal decisions," Brown said last year when he introduced similar legislation. "History does not look kindly on those who violate the dignity of the human person."
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/07/10/republicans-introduce-bill-to-ban-human-animal-hybrids/

From Science Daily:
"Two research groups in the United Kingdom have been given permission to use hybrid human-animal embryos in research which aims to lead to the development of new therapies for debilitating human conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and stroke.

... We initially applied for approval to use cow eggs as a means to understand the way they can convert skin cells into embryonic stem cells. Finding better ways to make human embryonic stem cells is the long term objective of our work and understanding reprogramming is central to this."

"Cow eggs seem to be every bit as good at doing this job as human eggs so it makes sense to use them since they are much more readily available but it is important to stress that we will only use them as a scientific tool and we need not worry about cells derived from them ever being used to treat human diseases," he said.

Until now, work on the development of therapeutic cloning has used human eggs from consenting IVF patients but these are in short supply. Animal eggs are considered to be a viable alternative for research to understand more about how cells behave..."