Posted on 01/12/2006 9:48:47 PM PST by Dichroic
British scientists are seeking permission to create hybrid embryos in the lab by fusing human cells with rabbit eggs. If granted consent, the team will use the embryos to produce stem cells that carry genetic defects, in the hope that studying them will help understand the complex mechanisms behind incurable human diseases.
The proposal drew strong criticism from opponents to embryo research who yesterday challenged the ethics of the research and branded the work repugnant.
Plans for the experiments have been put forward by Professor Chris Shaw, a neurologist and expert in motor neurone disease at King's College London, and Professor Ian Wilmut, the Edinburgh University-based creator of Dolly the sheep, as a way of overcoming the shortage of fresh human eggs available for research.
"The fertility of rabbits is legendary," said Prof Shaw. "The most important thing is that with animal eggs, we have a much better chance of generating stem cells and if we wait for human eggs, it's going to be maybe a decade before we can do this. If we can use animal eggs, we could maybe have stem cells within one or two years," he added.
Scientists use eggs in research to create cloned embryos, from which they harvest stem cells. By producing stem cells that carry the genetic defects of diseases, researchers believe they will be able to unravel how a cell's molecular machinery goes wrong, potentially leading to new cures for disease. But the research is progressing slowly, hampered by a severe shortage of "spare" eggs donated by couples undergoing fertility treatment.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
No thanks. We already have people who rut like bunnies. One of them actually became president.
Embryonic stem cell/hybrid/chimera ping.
Yeah, that's it. Frankenstein Returns
My question is: what will they actually create? It is simplistic or deliberately deceptive to say they are simply making stem cells.
In order to obtain stem cells they surely have to go through the blastocyst stage; they have to create a 'something' from which to derive the new cells. What is this something? It must be human to be of any use to researchers
Eh, what's up Doc?
Where's that photo of Kerry?
Centaurs, Minotaurs and Cyclops..oh my
The world is going to hell in a handbasket quickly
Thank you.
|
Thats the exact same thing that popped into my head too.
I have a better idea. Take a bunny and expose it to high doses of radiation. Then have it bite you repeatedly so you'll get super bunny powers.
What maroons!
Science get weirder by the minute
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
Don't miss the