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UK Approves Human-Pig Embryo Stem-Cell Harvest

Posted by timothy on Tue Jul 01, 2008 01:01 PM
from the but-I-know-plenty-of-half-pig-humans dept.
Biotech Medicine Science
An anonymous reader writes "British biologists have received government approval to create the world's first human stem cells from hybrid embryos, part pig, part human. The Warwick Medical School team, led by Justin St. John of the Clinical Sciences Research Institute, was granted the country's third animal-human embryo license from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which goes into effect today (July 1)." The above link requires (free) registration; the Telegraph's coverage does not.
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Submission: UK gives third hybrid embryo ok by Anonymous Coward
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  • As a matter of fact... (Score:5, Funny)

    by RobertB-DC (622190) * on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:03PM (#24019097) Homepage Journal

    I *do* taste like bacon [slashdot.org]! Why do you ask?

  • But... (Score:4, Funny)

    by snl2587 (1177409) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:03PM (#24019109)
    Why not half man and half bearpig? That's the approval we're looking for!

    • God dammit! I *did* just lose the game, and I had a winning streak of close to 4 years, my personal best!

      At least I know I'll be bringing other people down with me.

  • I can't wait until... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jhfry (829244) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:04PM (#24019131)

    I can't wait until my kid takes highschool biology and has to dissect a pig-man embryo.

  • Oblig. Doctor Who Reference (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:07PM (#24019191)

    This is obviously the work of the Daleks [bbc.co.uk].

  • god shmod i want my pig man!

  • Somewhat misleading... (Score:5, Informative)

    by MozeeToby (1163751) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:10PM (#24019235)

    The summary seems to imply that they are creating embryos which combine genetic material from humans and pigs. The article, on the other hand, says that they are taking 100% human DNA and implanting them into pig egg cells which have had their DNA removed. I think it's safe to to say that there is a huge difference between the two ideas.

    • Re:Somewhat misleading... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Bandman (86149) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:25PM (#24019469) Homepage

      Yes. One definitely prevents someone from tasting like bacon.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by SBacks (1286786)

      The summary seems to imply that they are creating embryos which combine genetic material from humans and pigs. The article, on the other hand, says that they are taking 100% human DNA and implanting them into pig egg cells which have had their DNA removed. I think it's safe to to say that there is a huge difference between the two ideas.

      That may be true. But, its much more exciting to talk about manpigs than to talk about the similarities between a pig egg cell and a human egg cell.

    • Re:Somewhat misleading... (Score:5, Informative)

      by stranger_to_himself (1132241) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:28PM (#24019533) Journal

      The summary seems to imply that they are creating embryos which combine genetic material from humans and pigs. The article, on the other hand, says that they are taking 100% human DNA and implanting them into pig egg cells which have had their DNA removed. I think it's safe to to say that there is a huge difference between the two ideas.

      They would still have pig mitochondrial DNA, even if the nuclear DNA was all replaced.

      • Yes, and don't forget about the residual pig midichlorians that they would still have.

      • Re:Somewhat misleading... (Score:4, Informative)

        by MozeeToby (1163751) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @03:59PM (#24022083)

        In the hybrid, the mitochondria mostly come from the egg, initially making up around half of the DNA by weight, and the team will do experiments in order to ensure that the trace of human mitochondrial DNA takes over, not least because it is designed to work with human nuclear DNA.

        Apparently they are trying to remove the Pig Mitochondria as well, or atleast make the human mitochondria dominant.

    • What is being created here is a cytoplasmic hybrid embryo, where the cells nucleus is fully human DNA, but the cells mitochondria is not replaced and that has a DNA signature of its own, meaning that the cells reproduce as human, but the embryos themselves are only considered to be 99.9% human, and 0.1% animal.

      • Re:Somewhat misleading... (Score:4, Informative)

        by Schemat1c (464768) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:57PM (#24020021) Homepage

        ...but the embryos themselves are only considered to be 99.9% human, and 0.1% animal.

        Aren't humans also animals?

        • How dare you consider humans in the same class as animals! After all, we humans have created a utopia and achieved world peace, unlike those animals that can't find the decency to use a bathroom.
        • Suppose it'd be more useful to use 99.9% human/0.1% non-human - but that includes non-animal, doesn't it. Maybe "99.9% winner/0.1% loser" or "99.9% survivor/0.1% doomed"? ;-)
        • ...And isn't it odd that these blasphemous crimes against nature are spearheaded by a man with the saintly name of Justin St. John [warwick.ac.uk]?

        • some more so than others.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Pantero Blanco (792776)

          Aren't humans also animals?

          Yes, they are scientifically classified as animals. In the common meaning of the term, though, they aren't.

          It's like seeing a chart comparing "Mexicans", "Canadians", and "Americans". You know what the latter refers to, despite the fact that all of the three groups live in the North American continent.

          It might be more technically correct to go back to using the term "beast" to refer to non-human animals, but it makes people look at you funny nowadays.

    • The article, on the other hand, says that they are taking 100% human DNA and implanting them into pig egg cells which have had their DNA removed.

      And not just the nuclear DNA, but also the mitochondrial DNA is replaced.

      Still, if you could do the same to a plant cell which has a distinctly different cell structure, would you still consider the resulting cells human or not?

      Is a Mac Pro running Windows natively a Macintosh or a PC? What if you replace the firmware with a PC BIOS to make it even more compatible?

    • Meh, we have been doing this in the US for years. Look at all the fat people with tons of kids!

  • Hybrid embryo @home (Score:4, Funny)

    by sakdoctor (1087155) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:11PM (#24019243)

    I can't wait until this technology becomes available on the mass market.
    I'm going to release all my hybrids under the GPL because I like to give back to the community.

  • Haven't these people read The Island of Dr. Moreau?

  • Part Man, Part Swine...... (Score:3, Funny)

    by snspdaarf (1314399) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:20PM (#24019359)
    .... It's Leisure Suit Larry on Ladies Night!

  • This could be bad (Score:3, Funny)

    by jbeaupre (752124) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:24PM (#24019455)
    All this experimenting is going to ruin traditional long pork.

  • Seinfeld (Score:4, Funny)

    by clang_jangle (975789) * on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:26PM (#24019497)
    He's a Pig man, I tell ya Jerry, I saw him!

  • A. We are Devo!

  • I can foresee some problems with patents and prior art with this, rednecks have been creating hybrid embryos for decades.
  • It is very well known that human half bear hybrids have excellent flying skills. They make excellent co-pilots for spaceships smuggling contraband evading Imperial battle cruisers. I am glad the Brits are taking the lead and having a Flying Cadet Corps ready and being prepared for the day when we actually will have starships.

  • You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! (Score:3, Funny)

    by presidenteloco (659168) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:51PM (#24019919)

    Go and boil your bottom, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur King, you and all your silly English k-nnnnniggets. Thpppppt! Thppt! Thppt!
    GALAHAD:
    What a strange person.
    ARTHUR:
    Now look here, my good man--
    FRENCH GUARD:
    I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

  • lucky pig-man hybrids (Score:5, Funny)

    by speedtux (1307149) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @01:59PM (#24020055)

    They get the 30 minute orgasms, and they have the hands... well, you get the picture.

    They also get to eat all they want, and they probably don't mind being called "pigs".

  • What's the big deal? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 01 2008, @02:07PM (#24020229)

    We got em here in Phoenix. They're 300lbs and ride around on electric scooters.

  • The first pig / bird hybrid, then that'll be the day when a pig really will fly!

  • sick and wrong (Score:5, Insightful)

    by fish_in_the_c (577259) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @02:22PM (#24020447)

    I do favor research into genetics and much of the medical advancement that might be made with it.

    However, even the comments on this board show that people are made uncomfortable by this idea. Mostly jokes, that mask a certain discomfort from what I read.

    The end result of such experimentation with human genomic material is the trivialization of the human person.

    It is precisely that trivialization which has been the cause of every grossly unjust large scale act taken by human beings. The ability to see others as merely raw material to accomplish our goal is an underlying premise in the Nazi holocaust, white separatists movement, in slavery as was practiced in the American south , in the sweat shops of years past.

    This kind of experimentation only re-enforces that idea, that human beings are nothing but animals, so why shouldn't they be treated like them?

    It should not be allowed by any civilized nation and any nation that does allow it has already become less civilized by the very action.

    It is precisely that trivilisation which has been the cause of every grossly injust large scale act taken by human beings. The ability to see others as mearly raw material to accomplish our goal is an underlying premise in the Nazi holocaust, white sepremists movement, in slavery as was practiced in the american south , in the sweat shops of years past.

    This kind of experimentation only re-enforces that idea, that human beings are nothing but animals , so why shouldn't they be treated like them.

    It should not be allowed by any civilized nation and any nation that does allow it has already become less civialized by the very action.

    • Re:sick and wrong (Score:4, Interesting)

      by The Creator (4611) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @03:04PM (#24021191) Homepage Journal

      This kind of experimentation only re-enforces that idea, that human beings are nothing but animals

      So what are you suggesting that humans are then?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by VanGarrett (1269030)
      Those who can comprehend the congruities of human and animal genetics, but cannot comprehend that we are set apart from animals by our collective intelligence, ingenuity and sentiences, deserve to be treated as animals. It is only logical to observe that we are constructed of the same materials and by the same processes as our companions on this planet. We are not silicon-based automatons, after all. It would be foolish of us to not exploit these similarities, if we can use them to improve ourselves, altoge

  • What could possibly go wrong?! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mlwmohawk (801821) on Tuesday July 01 2008, @03:13PM (#24021357)

    Does anyone see the inherent danger of making a hybrid which could create an evolutionary path for diseases which are isolated in pigs to infect humans and vice versa?

    Humans wiped out by a virus never able to get a grip on human DNA and/or pigs wiped out by viruses never able to infect pigs.

    This is no joke. This stuff is crazy and a real concern. Just because it is a well researched and studied idea, doesn't mean its a good idea.

    Fuck asteroids and global warming, genetic research will wipe us out long before the other methods by which we've been seeking to kill ourselves.

    Now the theological question, does man-pig have a soul? Will it go to heaven? What if it has intelligence? I mean, G. W. Bushpig. couldn't be much smarter.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by bob_herrick (784633)
      I think you need to go back and reread the refernce. This article from the UK [telegraph.co.uk] makes it pretty clear that

      We will take skin cells from patients who have a mutation for certain kinds of heart disease (cardiomyopathy, which makes the heart lose its pumping strength) and put them into pig eggs after their chromosomes have been removed. We will then make embryos so that we can attempt to derive embryonic stem cells which will allow us to study some of the molecular mechanisms associated with these heart diseas

  • I am moderately surprised that this type of research is still going on/causing such controversy.

    One would think that with all the evidence pointing at things like:

    Multipotential Stem Cells from Menstrual Blood [biotech-weblog.com],
    Menstrual Blood Can Provide Adult Stem Cells [taragana.net],
    Menstrual Blood: A Valuable Source Of Multipotential Stem Cells? [sciencedaily.com],
    Stem Cells Have Utility in Fighting Disease> and [reuters.com]
    New type of stem cell from menstrual blood [upi.com]

    would have convinced these scientists to give up splicing

    • I can't cite any "Old" Dr. Who examples, but...

      Series 1 "Aliens in London" or "World War Three". I don't remember which - but it was the "alien" created by the Slitheen to pilot the ship into Big Ben. Not a hybrid, but more of an anthromorphosed pig.

      Series 3 "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks", the "Pig-slaves", which were genetically modified humans, altered by the Daleks (specifically the Cult of Skaro) for use in the their (failed) plan to take over the Earth.

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