Scientists Create Sheep That Are 15 Percent Human 475
anthemaniac writes "Professor Esmail Zanjani and colleagues at the University of Nevada-Reno have created sheep that are 15 percent human at the cellular level. Half the organs in the sheep are human. The idea, of course, is to harvest those organs to transplant into human patients. From the article: 'He has already created a sheep liver which has a large proportion of human cells and eventually hopes to precisely match a sheep to a transplant patient, using their own stem cells to create their own flock of sheep.' One scientists worries, however, that the work could lead to new viruses that cross from animals to humans."
Sweet! (Score:5, Insightful)
!5%.... (Score:3, Insightful)
And yes, I'm aware that "unalienable" is wrong, but it was good enough for the Founding Fathers, so it's good enough for me. Grammar Nazis can keep their mouth shut.
If the far pro-lifers can be taken at their word.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Boy is this one going to piss them of no end...
Sheep (Score:3, Insightful)
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream."
This is a good idea, BUT . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Or would the left wing animal rights naked PETA supporters be pissed off that you're raising innocent animals for the sole purpose of slaughtering and harvesting them for their organs,...
On the bright side, we might have actually found an issue that both the left and right wingers actually agree on!
Re:!5%.... (Score:5, Insightful)
These sheep are not 15% human, there is no such thing - they're 15% antigenically identical. There is no percentage at which they will become human, because their basic structure is still of a sheep!
Re:Human arrogance towards life and God (Score:4, Insightful)
Where in the bible does it say not to do this? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm agnostic. I think if there is a God, he doesn't give a rat's ass what we do. If he did, he would have made it a whole lot clearer. He wouldn't have just had humans write what he said in a book, because that is so easy to fake. not to mention, everyone seems to have their own book. Which one is right?
Assuming you are Christian, didn't God say to dominate nature for our own purposes, putting fear and terror into the hearts of all animals? Heck, that's pretty much license to do whatever we want to nature, don't you think? But no, of course not. You know God better than anyone else, right?
Yes, 15% (Score:5, Insightful)
These are not hybrids or the result of genetic engineering. They are chimeras: Organisms composed of two separate clone of cells. Some of the cells are 100% human, some are 100% sheep. The total animal has 15% of its cells being 100% human (surface antigens and all), not 100% of its cells having 15% human traits. (The immune system matured in the presence of both so it doesn't attack either.)
The cells are in coherent lumps, too. Entire organs - including the brain - may be 100% human tissue. (Though they may be morphologically similar to the sheep equivalent because they were exposed mainly to sheep growth factors while forming.)
Ethics anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
But when it becomes 50% human, or even 75%, at what point do we call them humans and at what point do we give them rights as humans. I recently raised the same question on another forum and everybody was all up in arms that we couldn't kill clones of ourselves so we can replace our own 'malfunctioning' parts because they are human. Now these
Re:Sheep shagger jokes... (Score:2, Insightful)
When the sheep has a human vagina, then it's no longer bestiality.
out of order? (Score:3, Insightful)
We should not become what we fear the most, movies like the Matrix where humans are harvested sounds very dark for most among us, why would we do the same on partial sheep/partial human chimera? What makes us have that right anyways ? All in the name of science? ok, we need to improve and survive but why not do it on a less risky way?
Nature always finds a way to survive, what if this sheep gets loose [apple.com] and interbreeds, gets >15% human? What if it does not comprehend our actions against its sisters? Does it get civilian rights if it gets to a certain amount of humanity?
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd love to be able to read about this kind of research, happy that its being carreid out with the right motives and will have no ill effects, but these days, there is always someone wanting to rush things ahead to boost this years stock price.