Human-cow hybrids
MSNBC reports today that British researches are conducting experiments using human cells and cow egg cells to produce embryos and stem cells.
They assure us that this is purely for research, and the scientists, and reporters, go on to say this will not lead to genetic monsters.
Somehow, though, I am not reassured. We already have spider DNA in our strawberries and salmon DNA in our tomatoes.
I do believe the particular scientists on the project see this as a limited form of research to produce useful stem cells, but such people are very often compartmentalized.
The people who built Auschwitz had no idea what it was going to be used for. Need to know basis, after all. That's how these folks work.
I am all for stem cells; don't get me wrong. Studies so far suggest they might provide miracle cures for almost any disease we know, but creating embryos — essentially that is a human-cow hybrid.
That's treading in dangerous waters.
They assure us that this is purely for research, and the scientists, and reporters, go on to say this will not lead to genetic monsters.
Somehow, though, I am not reassured. We already have spider DNA in our strawberries and salmon DNA in our tomatoes.
I do believe the particular scientists on the project see this as a limited form of research to produce useful stem cells, but such people are very often compartmentalized.
The people who built Auschwitz had no idea what it was going to be used for. Need to know basis, after all. That's how these folks work.
I am all for stem cells; don't get me wrong. Studies so far suggest they might provide miracle cures for almost any disease we know, but creating embryos — essentially that is a human-cow hybrid.
That's treading in dangerous waters.
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