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Hybridize Hold-Up
Scientists seem to have discovered that creating human-animal hybrid embryos is much more difficult than previously thought. Has there ever been a time when something's turned out to be easier than previously thought? The entire US government would seem to be a gigantic counterfactual to the very idea.
Explain to me why any scientist would be attempting to creat a human-animal hybrid. I should think it would be unethical if not outright illegal.
Posted by: Pat J. on February 3, 2009 04:58 PMPat - no one's trying to get these hybrids to come to term, they're trying to use them to get stem cells. The real reason for doing this is that human eggs are much harder to come by so if this works out well, we could see much more research on the stem cell issue. My guess is that if processes are discovered that create true stem cells from this, it could eventually lead to personalized treatments based on the patient's exact DNA. This could make it possible to grow organs or other items within the body to deal with different disease states or accidents. Since it's the person's own DNA, the number of rejections could drop off drastically.
Posted by: ronaprhys on February 4, 2009 10:21 AM