chimeras
Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing "spare parts," such as livers, to transplant into humans.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0125_050125_chimeras.html
Originally posted by Bardock42
I don't get why it's called Chimera...I mean a Chimera has no human parts....strange.
It can, but it just means two different fused embryos or nuclei, one can be human, in fact a very good novel was written about a human ape hybrid called Chimera about 30 years ago!
e.g.
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jul/05/brownback_works_ban_humanhybrid_research/?state_regional
The Kansas Republican is sponsoring the “Human Chimera Prohibition Act of 2005†in the Senate.
Chimeras is a widely used word. It's the greek beast, human/animal hybrids as well as a single human that developed from a double fetus (complete with two sets of DNA)
As for this story, I think it's okay. I think the logic of jumping to humans being born to mice parents is a bit extreme. I could see the logic behind that kind of procedure if there were very few humans left, but that isn't the case.
I think the biggest issue, which was brushed off by the guy mentioned in the article, is that it does have serious religious ramifications. Let's say for a minute that these children born to mice parents had a soul and the ability to reason as well as a human. What would that say? Does it have a soul? It's a logic that has always confused me. If a human was cloned and used for it's parts, then it might punch holes in the religous argument that only god creates life, or souls. What if the clone is born exactly the same as a human born from two parents?
On one hand, it really highlights how truely insecure in their own beliefs the overly, strictly religious can be. On the other, they rarely realize that when the clone dies, we would never know if it went on to an "afterlife" or not...any more than we know if a typical human goes on to an afterlife.
Originally posted by Capt_Fantastic
Chimeras is a widely used word. It's the greek beast, human/animal hybrids as well as a single human that developed from a double fetus (complete with two sets of DNA)As for this story, I think it's okay. I think the logic of jumping to humans being born to mice parents is a bit extreme. I could see the logic behind that kind of procedure if there were very few humans left, but that isn't the case.
I think the biggest issue, which was brushed off by the guy mentioned in the article, is that it does have serious religious ramifications. Let's say for a minute that these children born to mice parents had a soul and the ability to reason as well as a human. What would that say? Does it have a soul? It's a logic that has always confused me. If a human was cloned and used for it's parts, then it might punch holes in the religous argument that only god creates life, or souls. What if the clone is born exactly the same as a human born from two parents?
On one hand, it really highlights how truely insecure in their own beliefs the overly, strictly religious can be. On the other, they rarely realize that when the clone dies, we would never know if it went on to an "afterlife" or not...any more than we know if a typical human goes on to an afterlife.
I knew a Chimera was a creature from myth, I was giving Bardock context.
However I do not think we will stop this type of technology no matter the protestation and procrastination as the demand for replacement organs etc is obvious!
Originally posted by Sir Whirlysplat
I knew a Chimera was a creature from myth, I was giving Bardock context.However I do not think we will stop this type of technology no matter the protestation and procrastination as the demand for replacement organs etc is obvious!
I didn'T say that I don't understand what a Chimera is in medicine and science, I said I don't know why it is called that, since Chimeras in the classical sense are not human..not even partly.
Originally posted by Bardock42
I didn'T say that I don't understand what a Chimera is in medicine and science, I said I don't know why it is called that, since Chimeras in the classical sense are not human..not even partly.
No they are not but...... They are hybrids and Scientists always like to reference and "homage" classical concepts where possible.
Originally posted by Mindship
http://www.mrguano.com/images/mouse_w_ear.jpg
Interestingly that was just a mold grafted onto the mouses back it's not growing on the mouse.
How the 'ear' works has to do with what it's made out of and the mouse. The mold is made from special fibers that are biodegradable. Before the mold is implanted into the back of a hairless mouse, it is covered with human cartilage cells - the same cells our ears are made from. Blood from the mouse help the cartilage cells grow and eventually replace the fibers. What you end up with is a piece of cartilage in the shape of an ear. Researchers say, after the child's new ear is removed from the mouse, the hairless rodent remains alive and healthy.
